This Summer on Group L: Four Teams Enter. One of Them Has Been Waiting 60 Years.

They said it couldn't get messier after Group K. They were wrong.

This summer, four nations enter the same group. Only two leave with guaranteed tickets out. One of them is a 60-year-old champion who still hasn't won anything since then. One of them is a 40-year-old midfielder defying every biological clock on the planet. One of them got humiliated 6–1 and has been replaying the tape ever since. And one of them got to the quarterfinals with a handball and still blames the universe.

FIFA ranking: #4. World Cup count: 17th appearance. Trophies won since 1966: zero. 1

England enters this tournament the same way they enter every tournament — as a genuine contender who will somehow find a way to make the whole country miserable by the quarterfinals. The squad is genuinely good. Bukayo Saka is real. Declan Rice is real. The anxiety is also very real. 2

Their group record against this specific set of opponents is spicy. England beat Panama 6–1 in 2018. They beat Croatia 1–0 at Euro 2020. They also lost to Croatia 2–1 in the 2018 World Cup semi-final while Croatia was on the way to the final. England fans have been thinking about that semi-final for six years and will absolutely pretend they haven't.

FIFA ranking: #10. World Cup count: 7th appearance. Most iconic player: Luka Modrić, 40 years old, five World Cups, currently playing through a fractured cheekbone at AC Milan. 3

This is peak "aging legend who cannot accept retirement" energy and the internet cannot stop rooting for him. Croatia's 2018 run — third place in 2022, runners-up in 2018 — means they know how this tournament works. They have young players like Martin Baturina and Petar Sucic to carry the load. But let's be honest: everyone is watching to see if Modrić can play through a broken face and still be the best midfielder on the pitch. He probably can. 4

They also beat England in the 2018 semi-final. They remember this. England remembers this. The first match of Group L is England vs Croatia. No one is going to be pretending that doesn't mean something.

FIFA ranking: #72. World Cup count: 5th appearance. Recent history: exited the 2022 group stage, fired the coach, failed to qualify for AFCON, then somehow won their World Cup qualifying group anyway. 5

Carlos Queiroz is now in charge, which means this team is going to be extremely organized, occasionally maddening, and weirdly hard to beat. Ghana's 2010 run to the quarterfinals — stopped by Luis Suárez's handball on the line in extra time against Uruguay — is one of the great unresolved injustices in World Cup history. They haven't come close since. This group gives them England and Croatia, both of whom they've barely played. The Ghana public's relationship with this team is complicated in a way that would require its own separate season. 6

FIFA ranking: #30. World Cup count: 2nd appearance. First World Cup: 2018, where they lost 6–1 to England, 3–0 to Belgium, and 1–0 to Tunisia. They still qualified again. This is a fact. 1

Panama won CONCACAF Group A to book this spot. They have been to exactly one World Cup before this one and went home without a single point. They are in a group with the fourth-ranked team in the world who previously put six past them. And yet — they come back. They qualified. They show up. There is something genuinely stubborn and earned about this team that is not a joke even when it sort of is.

Their last match of the group: Panama vs England, June 27. MetLife Stadium. The rematch of the 6–1. Panama's first matchup against Croatia and Ghana will be brand new — no prior meetings, no film to study, no grudges yet. Just vibes. 7

England and Croatia are advancing in most simulations. But Ghana vs Panama is going to be a genuine knife fight for that third-place slot, and third place matters in this expanded format. Queiroz's Ghana is not a team you want to underestimate. Panama is not a team that cares if you underestimate them.

The real drama lives in matchday one: England vs Croatia at AT&T Stadium. Six years of unresolved feelings, one familiar lineup, one 40-year-old who probably shouldn't be here and absolutely should be here. Neither side will admit how much they want this one.

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