Declan Rice urged the team to maintain a positive mindset and keep pushing forward, as they still have a chance to compete for first place in the group.

In the second round of Group L matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, England and Ghana drew 0-0, but England remains top of the group. After the match, Declan Rice shared his thoughts on the game. England have earned 4 points from the first two rounds and continue to hold the top spot. A satisfactory result against Panama in their upcoming match will secure their place as group winners in the knockout stage.  

Despite Ghana's tenacious defensive resilience and tight organization, which posed significant challenges to England's attack, Declan Rice emphasized the need for his team to maintain a positive mindset and focus on the final group stage match. He stated, "It's always very difficult to face a low-block defense where everyone is deep; you have to constantly find ways to break through. In the last 10 minutes of the game, we created even more chances than for most of the time before; we were actually very close to scoring."  

"The team displayed a very high level of performance in defensive blocking and tracking runs, some of which were not easily noticeable to outsiders. We certainly wanted to win the game, but ultimately we did not lose. That's the nature of tournament football; everything is still in our own hands."  

“We need to maintain a positive mindset and keep pushing forward. We still have a great chance to finish first in the group, so the overall atmosphere must remain positive. We need to adjust our form and continue to give our all. They are very compact defensively, with very little space in the middle. We must give them enough respect, and at the same time, we can do better in terms of possession and creating chances, but that’s the norm at this level.”  

Image source: Internet/England National Team official website