FIFA World Cup 2026 - Group L Trivia Quiz

Answer: Luka Modric

Modric turned in the penalty area to clear the ball, not realising that Madueke was running toward the ball. As Modric swung his foot, it collected his opponent rather than the ball. Kane's penalty was ordinary and was saved by the keeper, Dominik Livakovic. VAR advised the referee that both of Livakovic's feet had left the goal line before Kane struck the ball, so a re-take was ordered. Kane was successful with the re-taken penalty kick.

In a see-sawing first half, Croatia equalised before England re-took the lead.

The Croatia came from behind again. 2-2 at half time. Straight after the resumption of play, Jude Bellingham scored for the English, and Marcus Rashford wrapped it up with a fourth shortly before the end of regulation time. As a result of that successful penalty, Harry Kane set a new record -- the most penalties (excluding shootouts) in World Cup finals history, with five.

Answer: 0-0 draw

Both countries appeared happy to settle for a point until Ghana's Caleb Yirenkyi popped up to score in the *fifth* minute of stoppage time. This turn of events denied Panama their first ever point at a World Cup finals tournament. The Ghanaian coach Carlos Queiroz had now coached teams at five successive World Cups. Starting with Portugal at South Africa 2010; Iran at Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022; and now Ghana in 2026. He equalled Bora Milutinovic (Mexico at Mexico 1986; Costa Rica at Italy 1990; USA at USA 1994; Nigeria at France 1998; and finally, China in South Korea/Japan in 2002) on five.

Let's talk about hydration breaks! And let's overlook that the majority of supporters suspect that the overriding reason for a break halfway through each half is not to do with player welfare, but more to do with maximising advertising revenue. This game finally delivered what the sceptics had been waiting for: the sight of players sucking from water bottles as the rain fell on them as the cameras then panned to spectators huddled and shivering under raincoats!

Answer: 0-0 draw

It took until the 14th minute for something to happen apart from midfield play. Declan Rice shot just over from a free kick. That seemed to spur the match into action, Rice had a shot blocked in the 16th minute. It was a false dawn; 25 minutes gone now and the only thing that has happened since is that Jordan Ayew and Reece James bonked their noggins together and had to get treatment. The players have stopped for a hydration break now, but frankly, none of them have earned it. Maybe something will happen after they have had drinkies.

Ayew looks quite stylish running around with his head bandaged. I mention this as still nothing else is happening. England had the majority of possession but were doing diddly-squat with it. Sometimes they got to the penalty area but then the ball was lost or an aimless cross gets floated in and is easily dealt with. At the 35 minute mark, the graphic shown said England had 242 completed passes to 32 by Ghana. An old football maxim is that you need to have the ball to win the game. Another is that you need to have some attempts at goal if you want to score, and satisfy the first maxim ... England had another attempt at goal. Rice headed over.

In the 42nd minute Antoine Semenyo did well to retain the ball at the corner flag and beat a number of defenders on his way into the box, but eventually got crowded out by English defenders. Harry Kane had a shot blocked in the area in the 4th minute of stoppage time. 0-0 at half time. Admittedly, Ghana have set up defensively, but, PLEASE don't let the second half be as boring.

Second half -- In the 50th minute Marvin Senaya (Ghana) was found in the box with a long crossfield ball, but his shot was blocked by Djed Spence. In the 57th minute Noni Madueke (England) had a shot after a good passing movement, but it was headed away after being deflected. In the moments that followed, Anthony Gordon had a shot that went straight down the throat of the Ghanaian keeper, Benjamin Asare. In the 60th minute, Elliott Anderson (England) had a header form a corner blocked. From the resulting corner, Anderson sent his header miles over the bar. In the 64th minute Noni Madueke sent a tame shot over the bar.

1 Corinthians 15:55 states: "Death, where is thy sting". Whilst not being the literal interpretation, that's certainly how I was feeling, having to sit through this dross. As I was writing this, England goalie Jordan Pickford came charging out of his area in attempt to shut down the oncoming Prince Adu, and took him out, but the referee deemed it was contact challenging for a 50/50 ball. I wanted a red card to spice things up (I bet England's reserve keepers did as well). Harry Kane had a shot in the 69th minute which was well saved by Asare. In the 70th minute Bukayo Saka (England) looped his header over the bar, way over. During the hydration break, a commercial appeared on my television for an insurance company, which showed a young girl named Evie kicking balls into an open goal. At least she was hitting the net, every time. Bring her on, I say!

Morgan Rogers and Ebereche Eze came on as subs for England, can they play as well as Evie? We will see. In the 79th minute came the funniest moment of the match. Eze's first contribution was to be dispossessed in his own half by Abdul Fatawu who played a through ball into the path of Adu who took one touch too many, which allowed Spence to catch him with a tackle. Adu's following support, Antoine Semenyo, ended up running past him next to Jordan Henderson as he fell to the ground. As Fatawu lay on the ground, he found the ball at his feet, swung a boot at it, and the open goal-bound shot hit Semenyo just below his nether region as he turned to see what was happening. To add insult to injury, Semenyo by then was in an offside position. You couldn't write a script like this.

In the 86th minute Saka drove in a low shot which was well saved. From a cross that followed, Nico O'Reilly (England) hit the crossbar with a header, and Harry Kane blazed the rebound over. The match had come to life, 85 minutes too late. With three minutes of stoppage time remaining, Marc Guehi (England) had a header headed off the line at the far post. Full time at last, 0-0. Yes, of course, Ghana set out to defend and that they did, heroically. For all my criticisms, this is the way things sometimes go. I still feel it was to England's dis-credit that they couldn't change things up more and find a way through.

In this game, Jude Bellingham became the youngest player to reach 50 caps (one week short of his 23rd birthday). This 0-0 draw was the 13th by England in World Cup finals tournaments, more than any other country.

Answer: Yes

In the 2nd minute Croatia's Luka Modric ballooned a header way over the bar. After 16 minutes, Panama swept a low hard cross in from the right which they just failed to connect with. In the 21st minute, Panama's Cristian Martinez miskicked a cross into the arms of Croatia's goalie, Dominik Livakovic. Then in the 23rd minute, Panama's Michael Murillo crossed for Jose Rodríguez to head toward goal. Livakovic made a fantastic flying save to push the ball up onto the crossbar. In the 1st minute of first half stoppage time, Martin Baturina had a long range shot tipped around the post by Panama's keeper, Orlando Mosquera. 0-0 at half time.

In the 54th minute, Croatian substitute Ante Budimir got on the end of a cross from Josip Stanisic at the far post, 1-0 to Croatia. In the 57th minute, Modric played through Marco Pasalic whose one on one effort was well saved by Mosquera. In the 68th minute, Panama's Murillo had two shots in succession, both of which were well saved by Livakovic. From the resulting corner, Jiovany Ramos had a powerful header which Livakovic tipped over the bar. In the 79th minute Carlos Harvey shot into the side netting. Full time, Croatia are 1-0 victors. As a result, Panama's two single goal losses sees Los Canaleros going home after the group stage.

This match represented Modric's 200th cap for his country. He had featured in each of Croatia's last 21 World Cup finals matches, stretching back to a game against Japan in Germany 2006 (he had his 40th birthday in Sep. 2025).

Answer: Croatia won

In the 9th minute a cross from the left by Ivan Perisic was comfortably gather by the Ghanaian keeper, Benjamin Asare. In the 17th minute, Nikola Vlasic's shot grazed the post. In the 30th minute Ivan Perisic got his head onto a cross but straight into the arms of Asare. In the 31st minute, a 30 metre strike from Petar Susic found the bottom corner of the net. 1-0 to Croatia. In the 37th minute Mateo Kovacic's long range shot was charged down. In the 39th minute Perisic's cross was overhit. In the 40th minute, Antoine Semenyo's shot for Ghana just evaded the far post. In the 43rd minute, Kamaldeen Sulemana's cross for Ghana was way overhit. In the 2nd minute of stoppage time Luka Modric's free kick was headed clear. Half time score is Croatia leading 1-0.

In the 47th minute, Abdul Fatawu's shot from outside the box went just over the bar. In the 53rd minute Semenyo was played through but was offside. In the 56th minute a Ghana cross was turned behind. The resulting corner was cleared. In the 65th minute Semenyo's cross was blocked. In the 73rd minute, Ghana chipped a free kick into the area and Derrick Luckassen was there to roll the ball into the far corner of the net. An un-necessarily long VAR check confirmed what Blind Freddy could see at the first replay, that the scorer came from a well onside position. Score is 1-1. In the 83rd minute, a Modric corner was headed in off the post by Vlasic. 2-1 to Croatia. Full time, 2-1 to Croatia.

As a result of this match, Croatia finished second and, with England, who defeated Panama and topped the group, they progress to the Round of 32. Ghana finished third but seem assured of being one of the eight-best third-placed teams. Panama was eliminated.

Answer: 0

In the soaking rain it didn't take long for Panama to have a crack at goal, in the first 10 seconds Tomas Rodriguez hit a shot straight at England keeper Jordan Pickford. In the 4th minute Bukayo Saka drove into the penalty area but got crowded out by the Panamanian defence. In the 8th minute Marcus Rashford cut inside and drilled a low shot towards the corner of the goal which Panama's keeper Mosquera did well to push around the post. In the 10th minute Rashford drilled a cross through the area and it was put behind by Jorge Gutierrez. In the 15th minute, Saka's low shot towards the near post was saved by Mosquera. In the 17th minute Harry Kane's volley was deflected for an English corner. In the 21st minute Pickford dived full length to punch away a Panama cross.

In the 22nd minute a goalmouth scramble saw Kane and Saka both have shots blocked. In the 26th minute Pickford saved at the near post from a venomous Jose Rodriguez shot. In the 28th minute Saka's run into the area saw the ball end up behind for a goal kick. In the 33rd minute Nico O'Reilly's back header was saved by Mosquera. In the 35th minute Elliot Anderson shot from outside of the area, but it was well saved. In the 38th minute Rashford headed over from an Anderson cross. In the 43rd minute Saka's cross was blocked behind. In the 3rd minute of stoppage time, Rashford's free kick curled wide of the wall and the goal. Half time, score is 0-0.

In the 52nd minute Rashford's cross from the left found Kane in the six yard box, but between Jose Cordoba and Andres Andrade, they managed to scoop the ball over the bar. In the 55th minute Rashford's marauding run saw him fire into the side netting. In the 56th minute, Rodriguez sent a curling shot just wide of the top corner. In the 57th minute Kane was played through by Morgan Rogers whose powerful drive was well saved by Mosquera. In the 59th minute Jude Bellingham's cross was blocked behind. In the 62nd minute Saka's corner was volleyed in at the near post by Bellingham. 1-0 to England. In the 64th minute Amir Murillo shot wide for Panama. In the 66th minute, Kane's shot from the edge of the area was blocked. In the 67th minute Kane got in front of his marker in front of goal to head home a cross from Rashford. 2-0 to England. In the 74th minute a Panama cross was headed over by Ismael Diaz. In the 75th minute Diaz's shot was deflected behind by Jarell Quansah.

From the resulting corner both sides engaged in a game of head tennis until the ball broke to Diaz who put his shot high and wide. In the 78th minute Djed Spence made space for himself down the right and then chipped a woeful cross into the crowd behind the goal. In the 87th minute a Noni Madueke cross to the back post saw Rashford put his attempt wide. In the 89th minute a Panama cross was overhit. In the 90th minute Diaz fizzed a shot just wide of Pickford's goal. Pickford, as usual, chucked a wobbly with any teammate who was within earshot, the reason why? Whoever knows with Pickford? I swear he's going to burst a blood vessel one day! In the 1st minute of stoppage time, Madueke sent Morgan Rogers through the middle, but his attempt was blocked by Mosquera. Straight up to the other end and Jose Fajardo was sent away and his finish past Pickford was textbook. It's a shame he was offside. In the 3rd minute of stoppage time a driven cross by Eric Davis just eluded the diving header attempt of Fajardo; any contact and Pickford would have been stranded. In the 4th minute of stoppage time, Eberechi Eze's shot was deflected behind. In the last minute of stoppage time, Ollie Watkins' cross was cleared.

As a result of this match, and with Croatia's win over Ghana, England topped the group and Croatia came second; they both progressed to the Round of 32. Ghana finished third but seemed assured of being one of the eight-best third-placed teams. Panama was eliminated. They left the tournament as the only one of the 48 countries not to score a goal.

Harry Kane's goal took him to eleven goals in World Cup finals tournaments, beating Gary Lineker's previous record of ten. Jordan Henderson's appearance as a substitute saw him become the first England player to have played in four World Cup Finals tournaments.

Answer: Panama

This group seemed the easiest to pick in advance and so it was, each country finishing in a logical order. Though, Panama were better than their zero points suggested.

Answer: Harry Kane (England)

England's Harry Kane scored a brace in the first match against Croatia, then added another in the last match against Panama. Jude Bellingham got two for England, all other players ended on one goal. There were no own goals scored in this group.

Answer: England

A really low scoring group, remove the 4-2 game England v Croatia at the start and you're left with a paltry seven goals across the other five matches. England scored six, Croatia five, Ghana two and Panama went home with nothing to show for their efforts.

Answer: Croatia

Croatia, who finished second, conceded five goals, four of them in the opening match to England. Panama conceded four across 3 matches and managed to lose them all, that's just bad luck. Ghana and England each shipped two goals.