England dealt devastating blow as Livramento ruled out of World Cup with hamstring injury

Thomas Tuchel has been forced into an emergency squad reshuffle just a day before England’s World Cup opener after Newcastle’s Tino Livramento was ruled out of the entire tournament with a hamstring injury. The 23-year-old full-back, who had been expected to play a key role in Group L, will take no part in the campaign after scans confirmed the severity of the damage. In his place, Tuchel has turned to a familiar face from his Chelsea days: Trevoh Chalobah, 26, has been called up to the 26-player squad for his first ever World Cup. Chalobah, a centre-back who can also play in midfield, will join the squad immediately as England finalise preparations for their opening match against Croatia. That game takes place in Dallas on Wednesday at 9pm UK time, with Tuchel’s side hoping to start strongly in a group that also features Iran and New Zealand. The injury blow came on the same day as several notable results across the tournament. On Monday, Iran managed to claim a draw against New Zealand, despite protests ahead of their match and boos during their national anthem. Iran twice came from behind against the lowest-ranked side in the competition. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia sprang a surprise by holding Uruguay to an opening draw in Group H, while Cape Verde shocked Spain with a 0-0 stalemate – even the introduction of Lamine Yamal from the European champions’ bench could not break the deadlock. In the day’s second match, Egypt opened the scoring for Belgium after Emam Ashour’s thunderous strike beat Thibaut Courtois, but they could not hold on. Mohamed Hany scored an own goal while under pressure from substitute Romelu Lukaku, handing Belgium a draw. Tuesday’s fixtures see France take on Senegal, Iraq face Norway, and defending champions Argentina battle Algeria. For England, the focus is firmly on Croatia and a squad that has been reshaped at the last minute by injury.