England supporters react during the 2026 World Cup Group L football match between England and Ghana at the Boston Stadium in Foxborough on June 23, 2026. Picture: FRANCK FIFE / AFP
Image: FRANCK FIFE / AFP
If there’s one thing worse than a noisy Manchester United fan, it’s an England football supporter. Nothing quite matches the levels of arrogance many of them display whenever the Fifa World Cup rolls around - or in between for that matter either.
That’s why Ghana’s goalless draw against England in Boston on Wednesday night was especially pleasing.
Not only was it a welcome result for an African nation which probably secured their passage to the round of 32, but seeing fourth-ranked England fail to win a match they completely dominated was deeply satisfying.
Even a Sky Sports report described Ghana in its opening sentence as “the second-lowest-ranked team at World Cup 2026”.
Yes, Ghana have slipped to 64th in the world rankings, but there remains a distinct lack of respect towards African nations from many in the English football establishment and media.
Let’s not forget that at the 2010 Fifa World Cup, it took Luis Suarez’s infamous handball — the real “Hand of God” moment — to effectively deny Ghana a place in the semi-finals. More recently, the Black Stars pushed Germany close in a narrow 2-1 defeat earlier this year.
Still, the gulf in current form between the two sides appeared obvious heading into their Group L encounter.
England enjoyed a mammoth 78% possession and registered 19 shots at goal. It should be noted, however, that only four of those efforts were on target.
In fact, Ghana could easily have walked away with all three points after being denied what looked a strong penalty claim following a late challenge by Ezri Konsa on Prince Adu.
Despite loud appeals from the Ghana players, the Honduran referee waved play on and was not called over to review the incident on the VAR monitor.
In the end, Ghana’s resilience earned them a deserved point — and served as another reminder that African teams should never be underestimated on football’s biggest stage.
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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