Football betting tips: World Cup
1.5pts Over 2.5 England goals at 11/10 (General)
1pt Declan Rice 1+ assists at 10/3 (bet365)
1pt Ezri Konsa 1+ shots on target at 7/2 (BoyleSPORTS)
0.5pt Konsa to score anytime at 10/1 (General)
1pt Harry Kane to score from outside the box at 10/1 (General)
Ghana's start to the tournament followed the pattern of many. A first half in which they were almost non-existent was fixed with a half-time discussion and a strike in the fifth minute of stoppage time to secure the narrowest of wins over Panama.
I don't need to tell you about England's World Cup opener. Defensively vulnerable before the break with attacking might in the 45 minutes which followed it.
People get carried away at one result but when it's in such a positive fashion then fine, why not? If you can't do that having watched your nation put in a performance that deserved at least six goals then what's the point of tournament football?
The Three Lions have to be careful that they don't fall into complacency. That caught Spain out. It caught Uruguay out. It caught Switzerland out. It caught Belgium out. Nobody is immune.
Thomas Tuchel will make his players aware of that. An elite level manager and tactician will understand the threat a Ghana pose just as much as an Argentina or France. You give any team a moment and they're capable of taking it.
England leave the climate-controlled environment of Texas to head to Massachusetts. Foxborough - or Boston as FIFA likes to brand it - hosted both of Scotland's games while also being the venue for Norway's 4-1 demolition of Iraq. The latter is of particular interest to me here.
The open air stadiums haven't exactly had a noticeable difference in scoring based on conditions alone - you could look towards the teams involved as to why more than anything. The high-scoring Group F has seen 10 goals in Arlington and 10 in Guadalupe.
I'm siding with ENGLAND riding their momentum of the first game and netting OVER 2.5 GOALS here. It's a great opportunity to win the group and allow rotation for that final game against Panama.
We saw the best of England under Tuchel in that win over Croatia and while they've been somewhat uninspiring in some games under his leadership, it was clear he was experimenting quite a lot to build a squad capable of competing at the World Cup - it's why they've perhaps only achieved this in six of his 15 at the helm.
Yet it's landed in their last two. They netted at least twice in seven of their eight qualifiers. In competitive games England have shown up in an attacking sense and punished their opponents.
We can't put too much judgement into friendlies but Ghana's ones preparing for the tournament weren't encouraging against the better nations. Austria hit five past them, while Germany scored twice but had 23 shots (they weren't trailing at any point either). Mexico had eight efforts on target in a 2-0 win.
England can continue to pile the pressure on this Ghanaian defence.
Score prediction: England 3-0 Ghana
England were relentless from corners and free-kicks against Croatia, topping the set-piece expected goals (xG) charts on matchday one.
DECLAN RICE was the primary creator, continuing the form that saw him create 48 chances from set-plays for Arsenal this season - the fourth-most of any player in Europe's top-five leagues - and delivering the perfect corner for Harry Kane to slam home a header.
At 10/3 for 1+ ASSISTS he is worth backing in a match where the Three Lions are likely to try and force plenty of corners as a means of breaking down a Ghana team managed by the notoriously defensive Carlos Queiroz.
Only Kane (1.03) racked up more xG than EZRI KONSA (0.63) in England's opening win and 80% of that came from a penalty.
The Aston Villa centre-back went mightily close during a rampant 10-minute spell just after half-time, seeing a close-range shot well saved. He should have done better early on too, heading wide from 12 yards when under no pressure.
At 12/1 KONSA is considered by the bookmakers to be the least likely of all England's starters TO SCORE ANYTIME, yet his threat in Dallas was no surprise and he should be backed to find the net at anything approaching 10/1.
He's been a consistent dead-ball target under Tuchel, averaging 0.98 shots and 0.56 shots on target per 90 in competitive games, scoring once.
With him 14/5 for 1+ SHOTS ON TARGET, that is also advised.
Finally, given the likelihood of Ghana setting up in a low block I'll stick with KANE TO SCORE FROM OUTSIDE THE BOX at 10/1, a bet that may well be available at a bigger price come kick-off when all firms have priced this market.
As expected the England captain dropped deep on regular occasions against Croatia, and mulled over taking a 25-yard free-kick shortly before half-time having already bagged a brace, only to allow Reece James to stub an effort into the wall.
Hopefully he pulls rank on matchday two to help him continue an incredible ratio for Bayern Munich this term, with six of his 36 league goals coming from outside the box.
He is 8/13 to score anytime on Tuesday, so the 10/1 looks generous.
Score prediction: England 3-0 Ghana
Odds correct 13:15 BST (22/06/26)
More World Cup content from Sporting Life
Group previews
- Group A: Mexico; South Africa; South Korea; Czechia
- Group B: Canada; Bosnia; Qatar; Switzerland
- Group C: Brazil; Morocco; Haiti; Scotland
- Group D: USA; Paraguay; Australia; Turkiye
- Group E: Germany; Curacao; Ivory Coast; Ecuador
- Group F: Netherlands; Japan; Sweden; Tunisia
- Group G: Belgium; Egypt; Iran; New Zealand
- Group H: Spain; Cape Verde; Saudi Arabia; Uruguay
- Group I: France; Senegal; Iraq; Norway
- Group J: Argentina; Algeria; Austria; Jordan
- Group K: Portugal; DR Congo; Uzbekistan; Colombia
- Group L: England; Croatia; Ghana; Panama
Outright previews
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