England have been in the wars again, and not just on the pitch. The 0-0 draw against Ghana has left fans scratching their heads, and the big conversation coming out of the game is not about the lack of goals or the uninspiring performance — it is about whether Ghana should have been given a penalty that could have changed everything.
The incident in question had plenty of people reaching for the rewind button. There was contact inside the box, the Ghana player went down, and the referee waved it away without much hesitation. The problem is that on closer inspection, it looks like the kind of challenge that gets given nine times out of ten in the Premier League. Whether it was soft or not is almost beside the point — the inconsistency is what drives football fans absolutely mad.
Thomas Tuchel is still finding his feet with England, and nobody is expecting miracles this early in his reign. But one thing supporters will demand is a team that looks like it has a clear identity, and against Ghana that was hard to spot. The draw itself is not a disaster by any means, but the manner of it leaves a lot to be desired. England had enough of the ball to do something with it and largely failed to trouble the keeper in any meaningful way.
From a neutral perspective, Ghana will feel hard done by. They worked hard, they caused England problems on the counter, and they had what looked like a legitimate shout turned down. Football is full of these moments where the balance tips one way and the story gets written differently. On another day, Ghana converts that penalty, wins the game, and suddenly the whole narrative around Tuchel's England looks a lot more dramatic.
The honest assessment is that England were not good enough to win and were perhaps fortunate not to lose. The penalty question will linger, and rightly so. Referees are not infallible, and this one may well have got it wrong.
Let me know your thoughts.