Tino Livramento's Injury Creates Right-Back Dilemma for England
England’s World Cup plans have been jolted again, with Newcastle United full-back Tino Livramento emerging as a serious doubt after suffering a muscular injury in training.
The 23-year-old picked up the problem during Sunday’s session and is now being assessed by England’s medical staff, just days before the squad begin their campaign against Croatia on Wednesday night (21:00 BST).
Another setback for a rising contender
Livramento’s place in the squad was already fragile. He missed the final five weeks of the club season with a thigh injury and arrived at camp needing to prove both form and fitness. Now this latest issue threatens to end his tournament before it starts.
The timing is brutal. Handed his international debut by Gareth Southgate in November 2024, Livramento has since become part of Thomas Tuchel’s reshaped England, featuring five times under the new manager and starting twice. He came on at half-time in the 1-0 warm-up win over New Zealand, a performance that underlined why the staff value his energy and drive from deep, but he stayed on the bench against Costa Rica.
England cannot wait indefinitely. World Cup rules allow outfield players to be replaced in the squad up to 24 hours before a team’s opening match if they suffer a serious injury or illness. The clock is already ticking.
Chalobah on standby as options thin
If Livramento is ruled out, Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah is the most obvious beneficiary. The 26-year-old sits on England’s stand-by list and is a live candidate to come in, even though right-back is not his natural role.
Chalobah has not played for England since June 2025, when he completed the full 90 minutes in a friendly against Senegal, but he has remained on the fringes under Tuchel, making the bench for several World Cup qualifiers. Like Ezri Konsa, his preferred position is centre-back, yet his versatility and comfort in a back three or four keep him in the conversation.
Tuchel’s first-choice right-back remains Reece James, but even that pillar is not entirely secure. James endured another injury-hit season at Chelsea, missing nine games at the end of the campaign with a hamstring problem. England have managed his workload carefully, aware that one wrong sprint could reshape their entire defensive plan.
Behind James, the depth chart is suddenly clouded. Djed Spence, who can operate on either flank, has featured six times under Tuchel. Konsa, predominantly a centre-back but capable of filling in wider in a back three, has 11 caps under the current manager, including nine starts. Both are already in the squad, both may now find their responsibilities growing.
Tuchel’s balancing act
This is the kind of selection knot that defines tournaments. Tuchel arrived with clear ideas about structure and roles, and Livramento’s athleticism offered something different at right-back: a direct runner, aggressive in one-on-one situations, with the stamina to patrol the entire flank.
If the Newcastle defender fails to recover in time, England lose not just a body, but a specific profile. Replace him with Chalobah and you gain a defender comfortable stepping into midfield zones and shoring up a back three, but you sacrifice some of that natural width and attacking thrust from deep.
With Croatia looming and the 24-hour replacement deadline approaching, England’s World Cup campaign is already wrestling with its first major selection question. The answer could shape the entire right side of Tuchel’s team for the weeks to come.
