Reece James to Miss Two World Cup Games Due to Injury
Reece James’s World Cup has stalled before it ever really gathered speed. England’s first-choice right-back will miss at least the next two games after suffering more hamstring trouble, a familiar and unwelcome storyline for both player and manager.
James reported tightness in his hamstring after England’s bruising 0-0 draw with Ghana in Boston on Tuesday, a match in which he once again went the distance. By Friday, the warning signs had hardened into reality. He took no part in training with the squad in Kansas City before the team flew to New York for Saturday’s final group game against Panama.
He will not feature there. He will not feature in the last-32 tie that should follow either. Beyond that, England can only wait.
This is not a new issue. James injured his hamstring playing for Chelsea against Newcastle on 14 March and spent almost two months on the sidelines. Thomas Tuchel still built his World Cup plan around him. For the England manager, James was non‑negotiable: the starting right-back, the defensive anchor on that flank, the one he trusted to handle both Croatia and Ghana for 90 minutes each.
The risk was obvious from the start. James’s minutes have to be managed carefully at club level, never mind in a World Cup crammed into 33 days in North America, where England hope to play eight matches if they go the distance. Tuchel pushed his most important full-back through the first two games. The hamstring has pushed back.
The situation is compounded by the chaos behind him in the pecking order. Tuchel had earmarked Tino Livramento as James’s understudy, only to lose the Newcastle defender to a calf injury in training on the eve of the tournament. With the specialist backup gone, England’s right side has become a patchwork job.
Tuchel responded by calling up Chelsea centre-half Trevoh Chalobah and indicating that Jarell Quansah, another central defender by trade, could be asked to shuffle across and cover at right-back if required. Ezri Konsa, also a centre-half, sits in the same emergency bracket. Djed Spence is the only orthodox right-back left in the group, but he has yet to be truly trusted on this stage.
One name hovers over all of this. Trent Alexander-Arnold stayed at home. The Real Madrid right-back was left out after Tuchel chose not to call him, a decision that now looks even starker with James sidelined and the depth chart stretched to breaking point. Tuchel has only selected Alexander-Arnold for one England camp, back in June last year, and his reluctance to revisit that choice has been consistent.
So England move on to New York without their captain from Stamford Bridge, without their most balanced option on the right, and with their manager forced into improvisation at a World Cup that offers little room for error and even less time for recovery.
The tournament will not wait for Reece James’s hamstring. The question is whether England can.
