England Faces Panama Without Reece James in Crucial World Cup Match

England's Squad Update Ahead of World Cup Clash

Los Angeles [US], June 27: In a significant setback for England, coach Thomas Tuchel announced that Reece James will not participate in the team's final FIFA World Cup Group L match against Panama on Saturday due to an injury. However, he confirmed that Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, and Elliot Anderson are fit and ready to play as England seeks to secure their spot in the knockout stage.

Tuchel stated that James has not joined the team for this match and will definitely be sidelined, although there is optimism that he could return later in the tournament.

Currently, England tops the group with four points, tied with Ghana, while Croatia is in third place with three points, and Panama is at the bottom without any points.

“He has a minor hamstring injury and was unable to train for the last two days. He’s undergoing an accelerated rehabilitation program. We will assess his situation game by game, but we are hopeful he will be back for us in this tournament. It was unexpected; Reece felt good and was in excellent shape. We would love to have him back, as he is a valuable player, and we will explore our options,” Tuchel remarked.

“Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson trained with us today. They had minor concerns after the last match, but everyone else is available except for Reece James. We will finalize our lineup tomorrow,” he added.

England is heavily favored to win against Panama, having previously defeated them 6-1 in the 2018 World Cup. However, Panama has struggled in this tournament, failing to score after narrow 1-0 losses to both Ghana and Croatia.