半场闷平巴拿马，英格兰变阵未奏效；克罗地亚破门搅动L组格局
英格兰在小组赛末轮上半时与已出局的巴拿马互交白卷，同时克罗地亚对阵加纳取得领先，使得小组头名归属悬念陡增。
新泽西大都会人寿体育场的记分牌在半场结束时定格为0比0。英格兰队面对已经提前淘汰的巴拿马，前45分钟控球占优却未能打破僵局，而另一块场地上克罗地亚凭借苏契奇的进球领先加纳，实时积分榜上英格兰的榜首位置暂时旁落。看台上的英格兰球迷逐渐失去耐心，社交媒体上出现了对球队缺乏创造力的批评声浪。
主教练图赫尔对首发阵容进行了五处调整，夸安萨顶替受伤的詹姆斯出任右后卫，奥赖利回归防线，罗杰斯取代赖斯坐镇中场，萨卡和拉什福德则首次在本届世界杯先发。变阵后的英格兰掌握了大量球权，但面对巴拿马严密的低位防守，进攻端迟迟无法制造出绝对机会。队长凯恩此役位置更靠前，却因此陷入孤立，上半时触球次数寥寥。英格兰最有威胁的攻势出现在补时阶段，拉什福德主罚的任意球划出弧线，擦着远门柱偏出，巴拿马门将莫斯克拉已无力扑救。
巴拿马虽然两战皆负且一球未进，但本场防守组织依然严密。罗德里格斯曾在禁区边缘低射考验皮克福德，而英格兰中后场数次出现传接失误，给了对手零星的反击空间。主教练克里斯蒂安森赛前要求球队为荣誉而战，球员们用半场零封回应了外界的低预期。
同组另一场对决中，克罗地亚在第31分钟打破僵局。科瓦契奇直塞，苏契奇冷静推射远角得手，这一进球让克罗地亚暂时升至小组第一。根据实时形势，如果英格兰无法取胜，而加纳逆转克罗地亚，三狮军团将以小组第二身份出线。小组头名将前往亚特兰大，在7月1日对阵一支小组第三的球队，而第二名则面临不同的淘汰赛路径。下半场的45分钟，将决定英格兰能否夺回主动权。
| 撒哈拉以南非洲媒体 | −0.40 | critical |
|---|---|---|
| 大西洋／英语圈媒体 | +0.30 | aligned |
| 欧洲大陆媒体 | −0.20 | neutral |
Africa watches with critical detachment: England fails to meet expectations, and the draw confirms that football hierarchies are shifting.
An implicit hierarchy of threats is built: England's weakness is framed as a symptom of a broader decline of traditional powers, while emerging teams gain ground.
The tactical context of the match and individual performances of Panamanian players, who achieved a historic result, are not mentioned.
England holds firm and stays in the race: the draw is a step forward in a tournament where every point counts, and the team has shown resilience.
The English experience is universalised as typical of a balanced tournament, normalising the result and dampening criticism through technical and statistical language.
The Panamanian narrative of a feat is not given space, nor is the disappointment of English fans at the lack of goals highlighted.
Continental Europe looks on with annoyance: while the continent suffers from heat and earthquakes, England gets lost in a meaningless draw. Football is a luxury we cannot afford.
An equivalence is created between the irrelevance of the sporting result and the urgency of climate and humanitarian crises, raising the tone to a moral critique of the priority given to sport.
It is not acknowledged that the match takes place in North America, not Europe, and that European emergencies are not directly linked to the sporting event.