Kane and England face Ghana knowing victory seals top spot in Group L

England and Ghana go head-to-head at Gillette Stadium in Boston on Tuesday, with kick-off at 4pm local time (9pm UK), knowing that a win could be enough to secure top spot in World Cup Group L — provided Panama and Croatia fail to produce a surprise in the later fixture.

Harry Kane’s side opened their campaign with a 4-2 victory over Croatia, the all-time England leading scorer netting a first-half brace before Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford added second-half goals to put the result beyond doubt. Ghana, meanwhile, made hard work of their opener against Panama but ultimately claimed three points through Caleb Yirenkyi’s 95th-minute strike, leaving both sides level on points heading into the second round of group games.

The match has attracted some colourful pre-game noise. Self-proclaimed witch doctor Nana Kwaku Bonsam told the Daily Star he intends to place a hex on Kane ahead of the game. “I am working on Harry Kane,” Nana said. “I have shown what I am capable of before so I know what work I must do to stop him. I am very famous for my predictions.”

Nana added that his intentions stop short of wishing the Tottenham striker serious harm. “I am not wishing him serious injury. It will be just enough to stop him against my country. I will do my work so that it can help Ghana.”

His track record, however, offers England little reason for concern. Nana previously claimed credit for Cristiano Ronaldo’s knee problems ahead of the 2014 World Cup — a tournament in which Ronaldo started every game for Portugal and scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Ghana, with both sides subsequently eliminated in the group stage.

The ‘African witch-doctor’ framing has long been criticised for reducing the genuine community work of traditional healers to tabloid spectacle, a trope described as carrying centuries of colonial baggage. Its persistence in sections of the British press ahead of a high-profile match against a West African nation has not gone unnoticed.

On the pitch, Ghana will need to be considerably more convincing than they were against Panama if they are to trouble an England side that looked sharp in attack against Croatia. A second consecutive win for either team would put serious pressure on the other two sides in the group.