“No one could see that coming,” said Thomas Tuchel. And yet absolutely everyone could. When he left out one of the world’s best right-backs, opted to replace a sidelined full-back with a central defender in his squad and left himself overly reliant on the fitness of a famously injury-prone player, it ranked among the most foreseeable storylines of the World Cup.
And so Reece James will miss England’s clash with Panama. A footballer with a history of hamstring injuries, who sat out two months towards the end of the season with one, has another. “Minor hamstring injury,” said Tuchel ahead of England’s final group stage game. James is in a race against time to be fit for England’s last 32 tie, should they get there. Potential opponents for them include Senegal, Colombia and Portugal; for a right-back the immediate test could be provided by Sadio Mane, Ismaila Sarr, Luis Diaz, Rafael Leao or Joao Felix.
