World Cup 2026: Madueke, Toney Expect Physical Game Against Ghana

Noni Madueke and Ivan Toney are expecting a ‘physical’ challenge when England take on Ghana in their second group stage game at the FIFA World Cup 2026.

The Three Lions began their bid to add a second star to the shirt with a 4-2 win over Croatia in Dallas courtesy of a Harry Kane brace and goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford.

Thomas Tuchel’s side now travel to Boston to take on Ghana on Tuesday 23 June as they look to seal a spot in the knockout stage, but Madueke and Toney are taking nothing for granted as England attempt to build on a promising opening performance.

Speaking on the 10th episode of Lions’ Den Connected by EE (via England Football), the duo offered an insight into the squad’s preparations for the game and reacted to the victory over Zlatko Dalic’s side.

Asked what England can expect against Ghana by host Andrew Mensah, Madueke said: “We focus on us. We focus on our plan and we know that if we execute that properly then we’ll win the game.

“They’re a strong side. All the teams who have qualified for the World Cup deserve credit and it’ll be a good game but like I said, we’re completely focused on ourselves.

“We know that if we execute then we’re most likely to win the game.” Also Read: World Cup 2026: Ghanaian Witch Doctor Plans To Place ‘Curse’ On Kane

Elaborating on the challenge the African outfit are likely to pose, Madueke and Toney both pinpointed the physicality of Carlos Queiroz’s side ahead of the clash at Boston Stadium.

“It’s going to be a physical game,” Madueke continued. “They’ve got some good players, up-front as well. I feel like those are their strengths.”

Toney added: “It’s going to be physical. They have quality - everyone has quality in this tournament. Like we said before, we focus on ourselves and I feel like it’ll be more than enough.”

The latest episode of Lions’ Den features the pair discussing playing padel in Kansas City, Toney’s tea-making skills and a game of guessing the distorted voices of their team-mates.

Madueke, who started the win against Croatia, also opened up on how he managed to stay calm during his first ever World Cup appearance.

“First of all you thank God, it’s a blessing,” the Arsenal winger admitted.

“And then I think it’s important not to deep it too much, you just go out and do your stuff, do your bits that got you here in the first place. Treat it like another game.

“We’ve played loads of big games, a lot of games of magnitude in my career so I treated it like one of those games and went out and tried to do my stuff, help my team.”