Ghana face Croatia with the last 16 on the line

Croatia today, Ghana's knockout ticket on the line

Ghana face Croatia on Saturday in the final Group L match. Win and you go through. Lose and you are relying on Panama to do you a favour against England (2) (8).

Croatia have Ivan Perišić, who carries a strong record against African sides into this one (1). The stakes are clean. The math is simple. Queiroz drilled this defence to frustrate England for 90 minutes, now it has to deliver one more time.

Semenyo wants more fight with the officials

Antoine Semenyo did not hold back after the 0–0 draw with England. The Ghana forward wants his teammates to get in the referees' faces more.

"I think we as a team need to be more aggressive towards the referees, whether it's players staying down longer or coaches hassling the fourth official from the sideline," Semenyo said (3).

The frustration comes from a moment against England where Prince Kwabena went down in the box. Jordan Pickford and Ezri Konsa were involved. No penalty given (3).

The England draw keeps giving

That 0–0 against England looks better by the day. Thomas Tuchel called it one of the most disciplined defensive displays he has ever seen. Benjamin Asare, training in a swimming pool before the tournament, kept Harry Kane quiet (team background).

Now look at the collateral damage. Reece James picked up a hamstring injury against Ghana and will miss at least two matches. Tuchel called it a "minor hamstring injury", but he is out (10) (11) (12).

Ivan Toney watched the whole thing from the bench. His son was not impressed. "My son is saying: 'Ah, why have I travelled all this way and you're not playing?'" Toney said afterwards (9).

Queiroz vs the VAR room

Carlos Queiroz did not mince words after the England match either. The Ghana coach criticised the VAR officials, saying they were "on holiday." He also had a tense exchange with Jude Bellingham during the match (team background).

Djed Spence refused to shake Thomas Partey's hand before kick-off, a moment that lit up social media. Partey had missed the Panama opener (team background).

The Group L picture

England lead the group but are not mathematically through yet. Ghana opened with a 1–0 win over Panama before the stalemate with England (team background).

Saturday's matches kick off at 23:00 CET (2). Ghana vs Croatia, Panama vs England. Two games, one group, everything still in play (2) (4) (7).

Fan reactions

The Reddit crowd is deep in bracket math. A thread breaking down the remaining third-place knockout scenarios shows Ghana fans running the permutations on who you might face if you get through (1). The energy is tense but confident, that defensive wall against England has people believing this team can hold anyone.