Reece James' World Cup could be over - if England fail to reach the latter stages of the competition.
Your Site News has been told James will be unavailable until well into the knockout stages of the tournament as he battles to recover from a hamstring injury.
James was seen beckoning to the bench late in the 0-0 draw with Ghana on Tuesday but was unable to be replaced because Thomas Tuchel had already made all five substitutions.
It is not clear whether the fact he had to play on aggravated the injury.
James came into the tournament fully fit but England's two opening games in the USA were the first back-to-back matches he has managed since March.
James has not travelled with the rest of the squad to New Jersey for Saturday's final Group L game against Panama.
James is thought to be devastated by the situation but Your Site News has been told he has decided not to leave the camp, and instead wants to stay with the squad and fight to be fit in the hope of playing some minutes in the latter stages of the tournament.
The situation is a real problem for Tuchel, whose back-up right back, Tino Livramento, withdrew from the squad before the first game - again because of a hamstring problem.
The England boss decided to call up a centre-back - James' Chelsea team-mate, Trevoh Chalobah - in his place and now, with James absent, his right-back options are not ideal.
Djed Spence is the most obvious replacement but he has been playing left-back for Tottenham, and was selected in that position for this squad as cover for Nico O'Reilly.
Jarrel Quansah - another centre-back - can play on the right, as can Ezri Konsa, but he is currently first choice in the middle of defence.
As for England's other right-back options in the camp, only Spence played more than 200 minutes in that position last season, with 254. That is still less than three full games worth.
The player with the next-highest number of minutes at right-back is Declan Rice, though Mikel Arteta's decision to play him there after Ben White sustained an injury during the 1-0 win over West Ham was heavily criticised. Rice is key to England's midfield, but is also managing his fitness regardless.
Alongside Spence, Tuchel revealed Quansah is the next-best option at right-back - because he saw him play in that position for Liverpool.
It can't have been for long - as Quansah only started two games for Liverpool at right-back before departing for Bayer Leverkusen last summer. Both games were against Newcastle in the 2024/25 season, and Liverpool failed to win any of them.
Quansah has, however, played at right-back for Tuchel's England, playing 90 minutes in a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Albania last November - when qualification for the finals had already been secured.
Konsa is another player who has played at right-back before, playing 90 minutes in the 3-0 friendly win over Wales in October. But the centre-back has not played a single minute at right-back for Aston Villa this season.
Tuchel said when discussing James that 'no one could see that coming' and that the Chelsea captain had come into camp 'in good shape.'
"The thinking of calling Chalobah is to free up Quansah on the right full-back position for us," said Tuchel. "I saw him playing very strongly there for Liverpool and he played enough in a back three - which is not so far from the position - in Leverkusen. And we have Djed Spence.
"No one could see that [James injury] coming. Reece was in good shape.
"Konsa played in that right-back position as well for us on a high level. No problem. We would love to have Reece as a key player but he's not available. We will find solutions. That's what we do."
However, James' issue with availability perhaps should've been enough of a warning. Since the 2019/20 season, James has only managed to play more than 50 per cent of Premier League minutes three times. Two of those came in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 campaigns - both seasons where Tuchel was in charge at Stamford Bridge.
The 2025/26 season just gone was the third occasion which may have been what offered Tuchel a glimmer of hope that he could be more reliant on his first-choice right-back. That's despite the fact that the three seasons prior, James only managed to feature in just 26 per cent of Premier League minutes on average. Combined, he has been injured for 812 days over that period.
Former England right-back Danny Mills on Your Site News:
"I don't understand the defensive selection especially once Livramento was out of the squad. I don't get calling up Chalobah in the slightest.
"John Stones could play right-back and fill in. Kyle Walker could fill in as a deputy. He played 36 games in the Premier League last season. We now don't have a recognised right-back in the squad. You're putting square pegs into round holes going into the biggest tournament that you could potentially win after what England have done previously.
"It just looks unbalanced. When you're up against the likes of Mbappe, Yamal, whoever else might be in those positions. You're going to be facing the very best. If you don't have natural players in those positions, it makes it very difficult."
Elliot Anderson is still being assessed to see what part he can play against Panama after suffering a glute injury against Ghana. It is not thought to be serious, with a kick causing a dead leg.
Declan Rice, Anderson's midfield partner, did not train fully on Thursday but he did take part in the whole session on Friday.
Despite saying that Anderson and Rice are available for selection, Tuchel is considering resting one or both against Panama so they can recover fully for the knockout games.
The England head coach has some difficult calls to make throughout the side and is expected to rotate his starting XI with the knockout games in mind.
However, England have to match or better Ghana's result against Croatia on the final matchday to guarantee top spot in Group L - and with it a theoretically easier route for the rest of the tournament.
But England are through to the last 32 of the competition following results overnight on Friday night and into Saturday morning.
Were England to top Group L, they are currently set to play Senegal in the first round of the knockout stages.
