England manager Thomas Tuchel acknowledged he was running out of options after problems in the final group game, with injuries to his defenders once again a concern against Panama.
Jarrell Quansah leaves England’s 2026 FIFA World Cup match against Panama injured
Thomas Tuchel’s injury problems at the World Cup worsened after Jarrell Quansah was forced off with an injury in the match against Panama. The Bayer Leverkusen defender was playing in the right-back position after Reece James was absent due to injury.
Quansah left the pitch limping during the second period against Panama and was replaced by Jed Spence. The England star immediately called for his physios to come onto the pitch after committing the foul.
The former Liverpool defender received a yellow card for his combination with Jose Luis Rodriguez, but there will be greater concern over his condition given the Three Lions’ limited options at full-back. Spence is the only right-back left in the squad, but has been used more often on the left side of the pitch.
James is unlikely to be fit for the round of 32, with Newcastle defender Tino Libramento returning home due to injury before taking to the pitch in the US. Tuchel opted to replace him with Chelsea centre-back Trevo Chalobah.
Ahead of the match, Gary Neville expressed concerns about Quansah lining up in an unfamiliar position. “The only position I feel qualified to talk about is right-back, and if you had told me a few months ago that Quansah would be playing right-back for England in a tournament, I would have said something went horribly wrong,” he said.
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“He chose injury-prone players in Reece James and Livramento. He didn’t bring in Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is clearly a player of world-class quality, and we can only imagine why.”
“That’s where we are now. England will win this group and win this game, but there’s some confusion there.”
“Jed Spence is the only real option at right-back,” he continued. “Quansar playing there isn’t an option late in the tournament. So I think he probably did it today because he thinks, ‘Look, we can handle Panama, Quansar can play there, and Spence can play in the No. 32 spot.’
Jarrell Quansah was substituted in the second half (Image: Photo by Patrick Smith – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Following the news of James’ injury, Tuchel presented a number of options, with Quansah appearing to be near the top of the list. “We will find a solution,” he said.
“The idea is to bring in Chalovar to free up Quansah in our right-back position. I saw him play very strongly when he was playing for Liverpool, and he played well in the back three (not that far away) at Leverkusen. And we have Jed Spence.
“Konsa also played for us in the right-back position at a high level, so there is no problem. We would like to have Rees as a key player, but he is not available.”
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