In the 12th and last group to debut in the World Cup, favorites England and Croatia face each other in the first round, on the fourth (17th), in Dallas.
Thus, like the Brazilian team, the English also carry their small trauma against their rivals. In 2018, in the semi-final, Croatia defeated the English Team in extra time to reach the final.
Who was in the victory against England, in 2018, and against Brazil, in 2022, was maestro Modric, who is going to another World Cup — apparently, the last.
The English have something new on the bench: coach Thomas Tuchel is the first German to lead the English team in a World Cup.
Tuchel was successful there by leading Chelsea to the 2020/21 Champions League title, defeating Pep Guardiola’s favorite Manchester City in the final.
He also has a new coach in Ghana: the Portuguese Carlos Queiroz, who is going to his fifth World Cup.
To close the group, Panama appears as an ugly duckling and a candidate for the punching bag of the first phase. The Panamanian team even faced England in their only World Cup, in 2018: a 6-1 defeat.
And right there on the USA side, the Panamanian team was honored with two games in Canada, both in Toronto.
