Reece James will miss England’s next two World Cup matches at least as he battles to recover from a hamstring injury – throwing Thomas Tuchel’s decision to take only three recognised full-backs into sharp focus. The Chelsea captain reported tightness after Tuesday’s goalless draw against Ghana in Boston and did not train in Kansas City on Friday. Tuchel later confirmed James had not travelled with the rest of the squad to New Jersey for Saturday’s final Group L match against Panama, and will also sit out the last-32 tie that follows.
“We see it as a minor hamstring issue, minor hamstring injury. He was not able to train in the last two days,” said Tuchel. “He is now in an accelerated rehabilitation programme and we take it game by game, but we strongly believe that he will be available for us in the tournament. No one could see that coming. Reece was in good shape and felt very good. It’s a bit unlucky.” Asked whether James could be fit for the knockout opener, Tuchel added: “We have hopes for the next match. It can be a tight one.”
“Reece James ruled out for at least two World Cup matches with hamstring injury.”
However, BBC Sport understands James is a significant doubt for the start of the knockout stages, despite Tuchel’s insistence that he could still play a part. The injury comes after James hurt his hamstring playing for Chelsea against Newcastle on 14 March and was out for nearly two months. Tuchel considers him his first-choice right-back and started him for 90 minutes in both the 4-2 win over Croatia and the Ghana draw – raising questions about managing his minutes in a tournament where England hope to play eight matches in 33 days.
The absence of James, combined with the calf issue that forced Tino Livramento to return home, leaves Tuchel with Djed Spence and makeshift options. Nico O’Reilly, who played at left-back for Manchester City but is a midfielder by trade, and centre-back Dan Burn are the alternatives. Central defenders Jarell Quansah and Ezri Konsa can also operate at right-back. “Yes, I am happy with my options at right-back. I selected the team, so I’m very happy with everything with the characteristic of the players and strengths that they give us,” Tuchel said. “We would love to have every single key player, we would love to have them available – it’s not available – we find solutions, it’s what we do. It’s a tournament, we move on.”
There was better news on other fronts: Bukayo Saka is ready to start after coming off the bench in the opening two matches because of Achilles tendinitis, while Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson returned to training on Friday after missing Thursday with calf and glute issues respectively, and Tuchel confirmed all three are available to face Panama. England are already guaranteed a place in the last 32 even if they drop to third in the group, but the question of whether Tuchel’s gamble on injury-prone full-backs has now backfired will linger.