World Cup 2026 Group L preview: England, Croatia, Ghana & Panama — with two Toronto host matches

Group L has a runaway favourite in England, a dangerous old hand in Croatia, and — for an Ontario audience — two matches played in Toronto. There’s a twist worth knowing up front: England’s own matches are in the United States, so the Toronto fixtures showcase the teams fighting beneath them for second place. Here’s the group, the host matches, and how it’s priced. It pairs with our Toronto and Vancouver matches guide and the main World Cup betting guide.

England — the runaway favourites

England are enormous favourites, priced shorter to top their group than almost any team outside Spain. The case is a perfect qualifying campaign — eight wins, zero goals conceded — backed by elite squad depth, attacking quality, and a settled tactical setup. They’re expected to win Group L comfortably, and as a side, the question hanging over them is the familiar one we raise in our title favourites analysis: not whether the talent is there, but whether they finally convert it.

That conversion question is the entire England betting proposition. As a group favourite they’re rarely worth backing at short prices on the result, so the interest sits in their deep-tournament futures and the props beneath them. What Group L should tell you is whether this England side is the real thing: a team that conceded zero goals in qualifying ought to control a group like this with ease, and the manner of it — whether they win in cruise control or labour to break teams down — is a useful early read on their title credentials. A dominant group stage tends to shorten a contender’s outright price; a stuttering one lengthens it. For an Ontario bettor tracking England’s overall odds across the tournament, these three group games are the first real data points, even if qualification itself is close to a formality.

Croatia — the knockout specialists

Croatia are the team that gives Group L its bite. Finalists in 2018 and third in 2022, they remain among the most dangerous tournament sides in world football, with 40-year-old Luka Modrić still pulling the strings alongside Joško Gvardiol, Mateo Kovačić, Mario Pašalić and Andrej Kramarić, plus exciting youngster Luka Vušković. They’re the clear favourite for second and capable of pushing England for first if the tempo suits them. The fascinating tactical battle is England’s aggressive press against Croatia’s calm, possession-based control — slow the game down and Croatia can blunt England’s momentum.

Ghana — fighting for second

Ghana are expected to fight fiercely for the runner-up spot, led by Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo. They bring athleticism and Premier League quality, and in a group where second place is genuinely up for grabs behind England, they’re a live contender — and one Ontario fans can watch in Toronto.

Panama — the disciplined underdogs

Panama arrive as disciplined underdogs, the kind of well-organised side capable of frustrating stronger opponents and nicking a result. Both of their group matches that take place in Canada are at BMO Field, which makes them, almost by accident, the team Toronto sees most.

The Toronto host matches: Ghana vs Panama (June 17) and Panama vs Croatia (June 23)

Here’s the Ontario angle, and it’s a good one even with England playing south of the border. Toronto’s BMO Field hosts two Group L matches: Ghana vs Panama on June 17, and Panama vs Croatia on June 23 — and far from being throwaway fixtures, these are where the race for second place partly gets decided. Ghana vs Panama is a direct shoot-out between two teams chasing the runner-up spot; Panama vs Croatia pits the group’s likely second seed against a side desperate for points. For a bettor, that makes the Toronto matches genuinely consequential: results here move the to-advance and group-runner-up markets, not just the standings.

There’s also the spectacle of Modrić in Toronto — a 40-year-old, two-time finalist and one of the modern game’s great midfielders, on Canadian soil for the Panama match. For an Ontario fan, watching Croatia’s golden generation in person is a rare draw. Every licensed Ontario sportsbook will run deep markets on both fixtures — result, both teams to score, totals, player props — plus live in-play betting. If you’re attending, the betting-access rules from our host-cities guide apply: bet via a licensed mobile app while physically in Ontario, with iGO apps geofenced to the province.

The race for second

With England expected to top the group, the live question is who joins them, and it’s a real three-way scrap. Croatia are the favourites for second on pedigree and squad quality — but they’re an ageing side, and a slow start could expose them. Ghana have the athleticism and Premier League quality to gatecrash, and Panama, while longest, are organised enough to take points off someone. The 48-team format’s eight best third-placed qualifiers add a cushion, so the team that finishes third here isn’t necessarily done. That’s why the Toronto fixtures matter so much to the betting picture: they’re second-place six-pointers in all but name. We describe the market; the read is yours.

Player and prop angles

Beyond the group result, the player markets are where a lot of Group L betting interest lands. England’s profile — heavy favourites who conceded nothing in qualifying — pushes attention toward clean-sheet and team-totals markets and toward Harry Kane’s goalscorer lines as a designated penalty taker against the group’s weaker sides; Kane is also a live name in the golden boot market. Croatia’s pull is Modrić in what is surely his final World Cup, plus a set-piece and possession profile that shapes corner and card markets. Ghana’s Antoine Semenyo is the kind of Premier League name whose anytime-scorer and shots lines draw action, while Panama’s matches lean toward the under given how compactly they set up.

None of that is a tip — it’s a map of where the markets concentrate. The broader point for a Group L bettor is that with England’s result rarely in doubt, the value conversation moves to margin, totals and props rather than the moneyline, and to the genuinely open second-place market. The odds-formats guide helps you compare those prices across books.

Storylines to watch

Whether England finally convert their talent, whether Modrić’s Croatia have one more deep run in them, whether Ghana can grab second, and whether Panama can play spoiler in front of Toronto crowds. For where to bet legally, see our best Ontario sportsbooks for the World Cup, and for Canada’s group, the Group B preview.

Bet responsibly

A marquee name on home soil is exactly when it’s easiest to bet more than you planned. Set a budget before kickoff and treat it as entertainment.

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