Have England qualified for the next round of the World Cup 2026?

Harry Kane missed a sitter in the second half against the Black Stars which meant that the Three Lions were unable to secure back-to-back wins after their 4-2 victory over Croatia.

They will now play Panama in the final Group L fixture while Croatia and Ghana will meet at the same time.

The stalemate was England’s fourth successive draw in second games at a major tournament going back to Euro 2020, with Jude Bellingham dubbing it “second game fever”.

The midfielder said: “But part of the beautiful thing of the World Cup is that you get to play against teams, players, styles of play that you don’t really get to play against, and all stands for good tests.”

Read more: No panic, says Jude: Bellingham says England can learn from Ghana draw

Have England qualified for the next round of World Cup 2026?

A rule change to how Fifa World Cup groups are decided has meant England are set to advance as Croatia and Ghana cannot now both finish above them, bar a spectacular turn of events.

A determining factor for how groups are decided for teams level on points is now a head-to-head record, rather than goal difference.

This means that if England lose to Panama and Croatia draw with Ghana, then England and Croatia would both be on four points - but England would progress having previously beaten Croatia.

This would still be the case even if Croatia boasts a superior goal difference.

How England could still go out

England could still finish third if they are thumped by the already-eliminated Panama (by three or more goals) and, additionally, Croatia beats Ghana by a small margin.

This would see Croatia leapfrog them in the table and Ghana move ahead due to having a better goal difference.

Even so, this would still see England come third, and eight of the 12 third-placed teams do advance.

England's four points would already place them top of that league, with all other sides having two or one point.

So it would take a catastrophic series of events for the Three Lions to now go out in the group stage.

England's Group L table

Who could England play in the knock-out round?

It is not yet known who England will play but as things currently stand they will face DR Congo.

• The winner of Group L will advance to play the third-placed team of either; Group E, Group H, Group I, Group J, or Group K depending on a number of factors,
• The runner-up of Group L will play the runner-up of Group K.
• The third-placed team of Group L might advance to play the winner of Group K (if one of the eight best third-placed teams from the group stage).

This article was amended at 3pm on June 24 to state that there is a slim chance that England could still be eliminated. The previous version implied that this was not possible.