England warned about ‘worrying signs’ after reaching World Cup knockout stage

England are through to the World Cup last-32 after beating Panama 2-0 on Saturday – but there is cause for concern.

The Three Lions’ back four was at the forefront of conversation again, with Reece James injured and doubts over the fitness of John Stones.

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Jarrell Quansah was a surprise choice at right-back against Panama, perhaps an indication that boss Thomas Tuchel expects James to miss the remainder of the tournament and felt the need to rest Djed Spence in preparation for the knockout stage.

And to compound England’s right-back woes, Quansah hobbled off midway through the second half of Saturday’s win in New Jersey.

What has been said about England’s right-back crisis?

“This is a problem for England,” talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham, hosting the World Cup Daily podcast, said of the right-back situation.

Legendary former Three Lions captain Stuart Pearce agreed, responding: “It certainly is.

“Reece James look like his [Tuchel’s] first choice, he is his first choice, he’s a big fan of his, you can tell that over time, how he trusts him.

“And he’s England’s best right-back at present, certainly within this squad – but the injury to him is something that probably all of us feared, even prior to getting on an aeroplane to come here to the States.

“But it’s [come to] fruition now – all of a sudden, he’s out for [the Panama] game, when will he recover?”

Chelsea’s James has endured a rotten time with injuries and was absent against Panama due to a hamstring problem.

Spence, who played at left-back in the 0-0 draw with Ghana, is the only other specialist right-back in the squad, leaving England thin with potentially five games still to play this summer.

It also remains to be seen whether Stones will play any further part in the tournament, having started in the opening 4-2 victory over Croatia, but has since played no part in his country’s second and third group games.

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And Pearce is concerned, continuing: “But we’ve got a couple of issues… John Stones – played the first game.

“For me, I thought, ‘Well, [he’s] not played a lot of football, so he’ll play the first game, play the second game and put your feet up for the Panama game and then you’re ready for knockout football.’

“He’s not played either of the last two games and that, for me, is a really worrying sign.

“He didn’t play particularly well in the first game – he looked short of match fitness – and not playing in either of these two games won’t help that.”

The Manchester City centre-back came into the World Cup having played just 78 Premier League minutes in 2026.

talkSPORT commentator Jim Proudfoot also weighed in on the chaos sweeping England’s defensive line – which has yet to be unchanged in the tournament.

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He noted: “We are running out of options at right-back, and I think there’ll be a few players in the dressing room that would think that the position is cursed and if they were asked to play there would go, ‘Mm, no, you’re alright thanks’.

“There are other ways that England can shuffle things around, and we’ve talked at length about the profile of a right-back that Thomas Tuchel likes to use – which is completely different to how he sees [Nico] O’Reilly playing on the left-hand side, where he likes him pushing forward and then drifting into midfield, being able to use his aerial ability, making third-man runs to provide another body forward.

“He doesn’t ask the right-back to play in the same way, so that’s why Reece James has been so successful.

“England can build in a three – that’s why, potentially, he liked the look of Quansah playing there.

“So, what does he do next? [He might] play Ezri Konsa there because Konsa has played three dozen top-division games there, he knows the position better than any of the others of that same kind of profile.

“But for that to happen, it’s got to be Stones and [Marc] Guehi [at centre-back].

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“Or are you then looking at the answer being [Trevoh] Chalobah or Dan Burn instead of John Stones?

“The John Stones issue is not bizarre necessarily, but it’s really unclear, I don’t know what his status is.”

Pearce speculated further on Stones’ absence from the last two matches.

He added: “A little bit of me thinks is there an underlying situation with a fitness issue here? Not just a match [fitness] issue but a fitness issue that’s kept him out for these two games.

“I think time will tell on that one, do I think he’ll start the next game? Probably not on the grounds he’s not featured in either of these two, but he might well.”

If Tuchel does continue with Konsa and Guehi as his centre-back pairing, he might have to look for a more radical solution to the right-back problem.

And former Sunderland and Newcastle midfielder Jack Colback has suggested another alternative to talkSPORT.

Speaking on the Weekend Sports Breakfast show, he remarked: “I think I would go with putting Declan Rice there.

“I think Tuchel’s got a slight issue now because of how well Bellingham played in the eight [against Panama], but you have to play Rice.

“And I think Rice plays because of how good he is with set-pieces and that can be the difference.

“So, do you put him at right-back? I think it’s a good option. You’re not going to take out Elliot Anderson.

“So, he’s [Tuchel] trying to fit everyone in, but I think he [Rice] could do a job there, he’s an intelligent footballer, he’d probably be more disciplined than Djed Spence would be.”

England continue their quest for a first World Cup since 1966 when they meet DR Congo in the Round of 32 on Wednesday.