{"id":203484,"date":"2026-07-05T20:00:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T20:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/07\/05\/spence-muscle-problem-adds-to-england-right-back-concerns\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T20:00:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T20:00:43","slug":"spence-muscle-problem-adds-to-england-right-back-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/07\/05\/spence-muscle-problem-adds-to-england-right-back-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Spence muscle problem adds to England right-back concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Defender Djed Spence has complained of a muscular niggle before England’s last-16 World Cup meeting with Mexico.<\/b><\/p>\n

The 25-year-old started the last-32 victory over DR Congo at right-back, but there is uncertainty over his role at the Azteca Stadium.<\/p>\n

The Tottenham player’s issue is currently unspecified and it remains to be seen whether he is able to start the match on Sunday night (Monday 01:00 BST).<\/p>\n

If Spence is unfit, England boss Thomas Tuchel will have to make further changes to his defence.<\/p>\n

Right-back Reece James remains a doubt following a hamstring issue, but Jarell Quansah is available after an ankle injury in the group-stage win over Panama ruled him out of the DR Congo tie.<\/p>\n

England’s injury concerns could also open the door to a potential formation change.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Spence started at left-back for England’s goalless group-stage draw with Ghana, while he was a substitute in the victories over Croatia and Panama.<\/p>\n

Chelsea captain James has missed the past two matches after suffering a hamstring problem late on against Ghana.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old is yet to train fully with the squad since the injury and was the only player absent for Saturday’s session in Mexico City.<\/p>\n

The Football Association told BBC Sport James was following his own individual programme away from the training field.<\/p>\n

Tuchel also told the media on Saturday that the player would need a late assessment before deciding if he was fit enough for the substitutes bench against Mexico.<\/p>\n

Following Quansah’s injury, the German admitted he was worried about England’s right-back crisis before the DR Congo match.<\/p>\n

Newcastle right-back Tino Livramento was forced to leave the squad with a calf issue before the start of the World Cup campaign, with Tuchel opting to call-up Chelsea centre-back Trevoh Chalobah rather than a replacement right-back such as Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold.<\/p>\n

Tuchel’s only other option at right-back is Ezri Konsa, who has started all four of England’s matches so far at centre-back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defender Djed Spence has complained of a muscular niggle before England’s last-16 World Cup meeting with Mexico. The 25-year-old started the last-32 victory over DR Congo at right-back, but there is uncertainty over his role at the Azteca Stadium. The Tottenham player’s issue is currently unspecified and it remains to be seen whether he is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-203484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSpence muscle problem adds to England right-back concerns - Tahrir News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/07\/05\/spence-muscle-problem-adds-to-england-right-back-concerns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spence muscle problem adds to England right-back concerns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Defender Djed Spence has complained of a muscular niggle before England’s last-16 World Cup meeting with Mexico. 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