Reece James missed England's final training session before their World Cup last-16 tie against Mexico, leaving Thomas Tuchel with a right-back crisis. The 26-year-old Chelsea defender has not trained fully with the squad since suffering a hamstring injury in the closing stages of the goalless draw with Ghana, and he was the only absent player at Saturday's session in Mexico City. The Football Association told BBC Sport that James was following his own individual programme away from the training field.
Tuchel said James would need a late assessment before a decision on a substitutes' bench place. But there was positive news: Jarell Quansah, who can play centre-back or full-back, returned to full training after his own hamstring injury against Panama, easing concern at right-back. Djed Spence started against DR Congo, but midfielder Declan Rice finished that match in the position, and is also carrying a hamstring issue, though he is expected to be available for the tie at the Azteca stadium (Monday, 01:00 BST).
“Reece James missed training with a hamstring injury ahead of England's World Cup last-16 against Mexico, but Jarell Quansah is fit.”
Meanwhile, as England prepare for the clash, actor Ricky Tomlinson, 86, has been reflecting on his role in the 2001 mockumentary Mike Bassett: England Manager, in which England lose 4-0 to Mexico at the World Cup. Tomlinson, who firmly rejects retirement and recently joked his wife is trying to put him in a nursing home, is currently touring the UK and Ireland with his live stage show titled Retirement My Ar*e!. He also made a highly anticipated return to television in October 2025, reprising his classic soap opera role as Bobby Grant during a crossover episode of Brookside celebrating the 30th anniversary of Hollyoaks.
Tomlinson's portrayal of the hopeless manager out of his depth remains one of his most celebrated comedic works, and it has taken on added significance with the Three Lions set to face Mexico in the last-16. Police have mounted the 'biggest operation ever seen for an England football match', with 17,000 officers on duty in Mexico City, amid heightened security.