Thomas Tuchel’s England are sweating on the fitness of key players ahead of Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final against Norway in Miami, with right-back Reece James hoping to prove his hamstring is ready after missing the last three games. James has stepped up recovery work but starting him would still be a huge gamble, meaning Djed Spence may be deployed at right-back as Tuchel is reluctant to disrupt the central defensive partnership of Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa. Guehi missed training this week with muscle fatigue after England’s dramatic last-16 win over Mexico – a match that saw Jarell Quansah sent off and later hit with a two-game ban by Fifa, ending his tournament unless England progress. Declan Rice also sat out Wednesday’s session but trained behind closed doors on Thursday.
Amid the defensive uncertainty, Bukayo Saka has declared himself fully fit after managing an Achilles issue throughout the tournament. “I would love to come into this tournament 100%, but that wasn’t the case and everyone’s realised that and they’ve managed me in the best way possible,” said Saka, who assisted Jude Bellingham’s opener against Mexico but has yet to complete 90 minutes. “Right now I’m feeling great and ready to go.” His mindset remains focused on impacting the game regardless of minutes: “I just try and do what the game needs, whether it needs a goal, whether it needs the team to defend… it’s about winning.”
“England face Norway in World Cup quarter-final with Reece James injury doubt and Jarell Quansah banned.”
England will need their best after overcoming the odds at the Azteca – a historic moment, Saka admitted, but one they must put behind them. “We discussed that we need to put the drama and the emotions of the Mexico game behind us now,” he said. Norway, meanwhile, stunned Brazil in the last 16 – a result that caught BBC pundit Chris Sutton’s AI rival off guard. Sutton, who correctly predicted that upset, has backed France to win the tournament from the start and sees them overcoming Morocco in the other quarter-final, noting that Morocco “were really poor in the first half against Canada” and are missing injured forward Ismael Saibari.
With no further squad changes permitted for the remainder of the tournament, England must now decide whether to risk James or rely on Spence – a choice that could define their path to the semi-finals.
