World Cup 2026 Group L
England won Group L at the 2026 FIFA World Cup with 7 points, ahead of Croatia on 6. Ghana finished third and Panama bottom, from a group of Croatia, England, Ghana, Panama.
BY THE PLAYSPINWHEEL EDITORIAL TEAM · UPDATED · DATA REFRESHED EACH BUILD
Group L standings
Group L fixtures
| FIXTURE | KICKOFF (UTC) | VENUE |
|---|---|---|
| England vs Croatia | JUN 17 · 20:00 UTC | AT&T Stadium |
| Ghana vs Panama | JUN 17 · 23:00 UTC | BMO Field |
| England vs Ghana | JUN 23 · 20:00 UTC | Gillette Stadium |
| Panama vs Croatia | JUN 23 · 23:00 UTC | BMO Field |
| Croatia vs Ghana | JUN 27 · 21:00 UTC | Lincoln Financial Field |
| Panama vs England | JUN 27 · 21:00 UTC | MetLife Stadium |
How did Group L finish?
Group L draws its four teams from 3 confederations: UEFA (Europe), CAF (Africa) and CONCACAF (North, Central America & Caribbean). England (1 title) is the group's former world champion. Between them the four sides brought 27 previous World Cup appearances into 2026.
England won Group L with 7 points (2 wins, 6 goals scored), ahead of Croatia on 6; both advanced to the Round of 32. Across its six matches the group produced 13 goals, the highest-scoring of them England 4-2 Croatia.
Group L put 3 teams into the knockout rounds. England took third place, beating France 6-4. Croatia went out in the round of 32, 2-1 to Portugal. Ghana went out in the round of 32, 1-0 to Colombia.
How do teams qualify from Group L?
England qualified as group winners on 7 points from 3 matches, scoring 6 and conceding 2. Croatia took the second automatic place with 6 points, 2 clear of Ghana. Ghana went through as one of the eight best third-placed teams on 4 points, so Group L put three sides into the Round of 32. Panama finished bottom on 0 points.
Group L: quick answers
- Which teams are in Group L at the 2026 World Cup?
- Group L is made up of Croatia, England, Ghana and Panama. Each team plays the other three once, so the group is decided over six matches.
- Who qualified from Group L?
- England won Group L and Croatia finished second, so both advanced to the Round of 32.
- How do teams qualify from Group L?
- The top two teams in Group L advance to the Round of 32 automatically. Because 2026 has twelve groups feeding a 32-team knockout round, the eight best third-placed teams across the tournament also go through, so only the team finishing fourth is certain to be eliminated. Ties are broken by goal difference, then goals scored, then the head-to-head result.
- How many matches does Group L play?
- Six: every team meets each of the other three once. 6 of those fixtures are confirmed in the schedule on this page, each with its kickoff time in UTC.
- Where are Group L matches played?
- Group L fixtures are hosted at AT&T Stadium, BMO Field, Gillette Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field and MetLife Stadium. Every match on this page links to its stadium page with capacity, city, and the full list of matches held there.
See all twelve World Cup 2026 groups →
Where this data comes from
Every fixture, group, result, and venue on this page is compiled at build time and checked against the official sources below before release. Spot something wrong? Tell us and we will fix it.
- FIFA: Official tournament site: fixtures, results, groups, and venue assignments.
- football-data.org: Free football data API. Feeds the build-time results and standings refresh.
- TheSportsDB: Open sports database. Used for team badges and reference metadata.
- Wikipedia: 2026 FIFA World Cup: Independent cross-reference for tournament format, history, and all-time records.