Watkins urges England to seal knockout spot against Ghana with World Cup ambitions growing

Ollie Watkins has urged England to use Tuesday’s World Cup Group L clash with Ghana as a chance to seal their place in the knockout rounds, building on the momentum of a 4-2 opening win over Croatia.

Thomas Tuchel’s side recovered from being pegged back to 2-2 twice in the first half against Croatia last Wednesday before Jude Bellingham and substitute Marcus Rashford sealed a dominant second-half victory. That result leaves England needing one more win to guarantee progression, with a top-of-the-group finish also within reach if Panama fail to beat Croatia in the other Group L fixture on Tuesday.

“I think that every game you play you want to win,” said Watkins. “We want to top the group. We want to win every game and progress through the next round. I think that’s everyone’s aim at the end of the day, but we’re in a good position so far. We need to keep building on the Croatia performance.”

Ghana are ranked 65th in the world, making them England’s lowest-ranked opponents at this summer’s tournament, but Manchester City forward Antoine Semenyo is expected to pose a significant threat. Watkins was quick to acknowledge the danger while highlighting Tuchel’s focus on England’s own game plan.

“The thing I like about this manager is obviously he highlights their threats — we know Semenyo is a great player as you’ve seen in the last few seasons — but he focuses a lot on ourselves and what we try to do with the ball, and how we’re trying to dominate them,” Watkins said. “That’s a really positive thing that I’ve seen from the manager.”

Should England beat Ghana and Panama defeat Croatia, the final group game against Panama on Saturday would become a dead rubber, allowing Tuchel to rotate his squad ahead of the knockout stages.