Madueke and Toney Expect a Physical Game Against Ghana in the 2026 World Cup

Noni Madueke and Ivan Toney say they are preparing for a “physical” contest when England face Ghana in their second group‑stage match of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

The Three Lions began their campaign with a 4‑2 victory over Croatia in Dallas, thanks to a brace from Harry Kane and goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford.

Thomas Tuchel’s side will now travel to Boston to meet Ghana on Tuesday 23 June as they look to secure a place in the knockout phase. Madueke and Toney, however, are treating the match as a new challenge, not a given.

In the 10th episode of Lions’ Den Connected by EE (via England Football), the duo discussed the team’s preparations and reacted to the win over Zlatko Dalić’s side.

When asked by host Andrew Mensah what England can expect from Ghana, 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.”

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Both players highlighted the physical nature of the African side ahead of the clash at Boston Stadium. Madueke said: “It’s going to be a physical game. 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 also featured the pair talking about playing padel in Kansas City, Toney’s tea‑making skills and a game of guessing the distorted voices of their teammates.

Madueke, who started the win against Croatia, spoke about staying calm during his first World Cup appearance. “First of all you thank God, it’s a blessing,” he 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.”