Tino Livramento's World Cup Dream at Risk After Injury
Tino Livramento’s World Cup dream is hanging by a thread.
The Newcastle United full-back has suffered a muscular injury in training, leaving England and head coach Thomas Tuchel facing an unwanted selection headache just days before their opening game against Croatia on Wednesday night (21:00 BST).
Fresh setback for a fragile campaign
Livramento, 23, is being assessed by England’s medical staff after pulling up during Sunday’s session. The timing could hardly be worse. His place in the squad was already under scrutiny after he missed the final five weeks of Newcastle’s season with a thigh problem.
Now, with the World Cup about to start, England must decide whether to gamble on his recovery or turn to the standby list.
Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah is the leading candidate to step in if Livramento is ruled out. Tournament regulations allow teams to replace outfield players who suffer serious injury or illness up to 24 hours before their first match kicks off, keeping the door open for a late reshuffle.
Tuchel’s right-back puzzle
Livramento’s rise under Tuchel has been swift but carefully managed. Handed his international debut by Gareth Southgate in November 2024, he has featured five times since Tuchel took charge, starting twice. He came on at half-time in the 1-0 warm-up win over New Zealand, but did not get off the bench against Costa Rica.
He was never pencilled in as the undisputed starter. That role still belongs to Reece James. Yet even James arrives under a cloud. The Chelsea defender, 26, endured another stop-start season and missed nine matches at the end of the campaign with a hamstring injury. Tuchel has depth at right-back on paper; in reality, much of it is wrapped in caution tape.
Djed Spence offers one solution. The versatile full-back, capable on both flanks, has already made six appearances under Tuchel and brings direct running and aggression out wide. Ezri Konsa, predominantly a centre-back, is another in-squad option. He has been used 11 times by Tuchel, starting nine, and can slide across if England switch system or need a more defensive profile on the right.
None of them, though, combine Livramento’s blend of energy, one-on-one defending and attacking thrust in quite the same way. That is the dilemma.
Chalobah waits by the phone
If the call comes, Chalobah will know the drill. The Chelsea defender, like Konsa, prefers to operate in central defence but has the athleticism and discipline to cover wider roles if required.
He has not played for England since June 2025, when he completed the full 90 minutes in a friendly against Senegal, yet he has remained close to the set-up. Tuchel has kept him around the group during World Cup qualifying, naming him on the bench multiple times even without using him.
Now he stands one medical report away from a place on the plane and a sudden change in his international fortunes.
For Livramento, the next 48 hours will decide everything: a late reprieve and a first World Cup, or a tournament watched from afar while someone else pulls on the shirt he thought he had finally made his own.
