The result leaves England and Ghana level on four points in Group L with one game to play. England face Panama on Saturday while Ghana meet Croatia, with both sides still harbouring hopes of topping the group.
Ghana sat deep from the first whistle in a 4-5-1 that gave England no room in behind and restricted them to speculative efforts for the vast majority of the contest. Declan Rice headed over from Noni Madueke's cross, and Harry Kane had a shot deflected behind before the interval.
England improved after the break without ever looking likely to find a way through. Substitutes Bukayo Saka, Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze were introduced as Tuchel sought a breakthrough, and it was only in the final ten minutes that the Three Lions truly threatened. Saka forced a sharp save from stand-in goalkeeper Benjamin Asare before Nico O'Reilly headed Reece James' cross against the crossbar. The rebound fell to Kane six yards out with the goal gaping — and he blazed over. Marc Guéhi turned an Eze cross home in stoppage time only for the effort to be cleared off the line.
Ghana had cause for concern at their end too. Prince Adu broke into the box on the counter but a heavy touch and a fine tackle from Ezri Konsa denied what might have been a shock defeat.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Tuchel said: "Credit to them. I rarely saw a physical performance like that from a team. They defended with 10 players in a deep, deep block, so made it difficult for us because they were very disciplined and very physical on every position so it took us a while to break this block down, to find this rhythm. Everything was our responsibility to find rhythm. At the same time you need to be careful not to concede counter-attacks.
"We were pushing, pushing, pushing. We had a big chance with Harry [Kane] that he will never miss in this tournament again, so it is what it is.
"It is difficult to find a way through when someone plays a 4-5-1 and completely deep and is committed to it and they celebrated a 0-0 like a win, so you could see the different approaches which is fair enough and credit to them. You cannot lose your head about it.
"It took us a while to find our rhythm in the second half. The substitutes helped and the fatigue set in and then we created more and more the longer the game went but we couldn't score."
England captain Harry Kane, speaking to BBC One, said: "It was one of those games. Difficult team to break down. We had loads of possession of the ball. The last 15 minutes of both halves, we were at our best. They started to tire and we got some chances. I had a big chance and we hit the bar with Nico [O'Reilly]. It could have been a game where we came away with the win. They've got some dangerous players and we controlled that pretty well. We wanted the win but we got a point and we're still in a great position in the group."
On his missed chance, Kane said: "You go through games like that. I was waiting for an opportunity like that to fall my way. I was waiting for the ball to bounce, it did but I couldn't get over it. It is what it is. I've been a striker long enough to know they don't always go in."
On his lack of opportunities, he added: "I was man-marked with Partey so I didn't have space to drop deep. They defended the box well. The balls in the middle were tough to play because it was compact. You go through games like that. We're playing in the World Cup. We're in a great position, we play Panama next. I spoke before and said we have to separate it into two tournaments, with the group stage and the knockouts. We've almost done round one and we're looking forward to getting back out there."
Ghana winger Antoine Semenyo, speaking to the BBC, was full of praise for the collective effort.
"We defended for most of the game. We knew it would be like that. We needed to stay in our shape and put our bodies on the line. We did that today.
"It was tough today. Props to the team, we knew we wouldn't have much of the ball and go forward as much as we wanted to. Hopefully, we can go on to get through.
"Every attacker wants to be on the ball rather than off the ball, but it's what the team needed."
On the missed chance, Semenyo said: "It happened so fast, I tried to move out of the way. We get forward really quickly. We're unlucky not to get that goal."
On catching up with former Premier League teammates, he added: "A little bit before the game, but I'm going to go catch up with them now. It's good to see them. It hints that the point was important for them, too. Our goal from the start was to get through to the next round."
Ghana head coach Carlos Queiroz was measured but clearly satisfied.
"The first goal is achieved, and we qualified for the second round. I am so proud of the way our players fought during the game and how much they stand behind the game plan. They always believed. My humble opinion is that England can be candidates to win the World Cup. It is a gift for our fans. It is a gift for some of the players we lost.
"That's the way to win when you have to defend, you defend. I cannot play samba when they play rock and roll. The goal was to finish the first half with the England team frustrated and no solution to beat us. That was when we started to grow up and control the game. We could score, but unfortunately, we didn't do it. I think England could score, so a draw was a fair result."
On what reaching the second round means, he added: "Happiness. Win is happiness, but in this moment, the win is nothing. We reached the second stage, which was the goal."
It is the fourth successive major tournament in which England have drawn their second group game, having shared the spoils with Scotland in 2021, the United States in 2022 and Denmark in 2024 — though none of those opponents were as purely defensive as Ghana.