Maguire urges England calm after Ghana stalemate as Neville singles out Gordon for axe

Harry Maguire has urged England not to be “too downbeat” after they were held to a goalless draw by Ghana in Boston on Tuesday, while Gary Neville has identified Anthony Gordon as the player most at risk of being dropped for Saturday’s final Group L fixture against Panama.

The stalemate was the fourth consecutive time England have drawn their second game at a major tournament, following an encouraging 4-2 opening victory over Croatia. Maguire, who was part of the squad that reached the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup, drew a direct comparison to that campaign, when England beat Iran before being held by the United States before recovering to beat Wales and advance.

“I think they’ll look back at it and think, in the grand scheme of things, we drew our second game against the USA in the last World Cup,” Maguire said on The Rest Is Football podcast. “We were disappointed, but we knew we were in control of the group, you go and play your third game, you win the game and everything’s forgotten about and you go on to the knockout.”

The Manchester United centre-back added that individual players may have personal regrets but that the collective mood should remain positive. “I don’t think they’ll be too downbeat. I think a few lads will be disappointed, probably, with the individual performances. But as a group and a collective I’m sure tomorrow will be a new day and they’ll just look forward to Panama and getting the win.”

Neville was less measured in his assessment, focusing his criticism on Anthony Gordon. The 25-year-old winger, who completed a move to Barcelona from Newcastle before the tournament, has started both matches but has struggled to impose himself on either game.

“Anthony Gordon, he’s probably the one that’s under the most pressure now,” Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast. “We all thought he probably wouldn’t play against Ghana, we thought maybe Marcus [Rashford] would come in or something like that, but he stayed on. I think he’s the one who’s going to find it a little bit difficult to keep his spot.”

England need a positive result against Panama on Saturday to confirm their place in the knockout stages and silence the growing questions about their attacking output.