{"id":663369,"date":"2026-06-28T22:02:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T22:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/663369\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T22:02:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T22:02:10","slug":"englands-right-back-problems-deepen-with-jarell-quansah-likely-to-miss-dr-congo-tie-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/663369\/","title":{"rendered":"England\u2019s right-back problems deepen with Jarell Quansah likely to miss DR Congo tie | England"},"content":{"rendered":"

Declan Rice will give England<\/a> a boost by returning for the last-32 game against the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday but Jarell Quansah is likely to add to Thomas Tuchel\u2019s worries at right-back by missing out with an ankle injury.<\/p>\n

Tuchel\u2019s plans were complicated by Tino Livramento leaving the camp with a calf injury this month and the head coach was given another \u00adheadache when Reece James tweaked a hamstring last week. James, who started England\u2019s first two games in Group\u00a0L, missed the win against Panama<\/a> last Saturday, is unavailable against the DRC<\/a> and is increasingly unlikely to be back for a possible last\u201116 match against either Mexico or Ecuador in Mexico City the \u00adfollowing Sunday.<\/p>\n

Tuchel replaced James with \u00adQuansah against Panama but the Bayer Leverkusen defender\u2019s World Cup<\/a> debut was cut short when he twisted an ankle in the second half. The 23-year-old was replaced by Djed Spence and is a major doubt to play against the DRC. Tuchel was optimistic about Quansah\u2019s chances of recovering but sources believe the last 32 could come too soon.<\/p>\n

With Quansah and James expected to be out it is likely Spence will start. Tuchel likes the versatile Tottenham defender and used him in all three games as England topped their group with seven points. The alternative would be to shift Ezri Konsa to right\u2011back and start John Stones next to Marc Gu\u00e9hi in central defence.<\/p>\n

Stones played only five times for Manchester City during the second half of last season and has not featured for England since their 4-2 win against Croatia in their first game.<\/p>\n

Tuchel, asked whether Stones would be ready to start against the DRC, said: \u201cYeah, for sure. Why not? He was even in consideration to start [against Panama] but then it would have been the third change in the central defence in the third match, and I thought I\u2019d stick with the pair because I saw them good against Ghana \u2013 and I saw them good against Panama.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jude Bellingham \u2018needs to keep going\u2019, according to Thomas Tuchel. Photograph: Javier Garc\u00eda\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Tuchel is convinced Jude Bellingham has fully bought into his approach and can continue to make the difference at the World Cup. Bellingham starred in the 2-0 victory against Panama, settling England\u2019s nerves by scoring the opening goal \u2013 his second of the tournament \u2013 before providing the assist for Harry Kane. The Real Madrid midfielder, who won his 51st cap, did not start in several of England\u2019s qualifying matches and Tuchel warned before the tournament that he would have to fight for a place.<\/p>\n

Bellingham played in a slightly deeper role on Saturday as Morgan Rogers started in the same England side as his childhood friend for the third time under Tuchel. Bellingham stole the show and the England head coach said he was not surprised the 22-year-old had stepped up when required. \u201cI\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s a reaction but it is what we want from him,\u201d Tuchel said.<\/p>\n

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rice<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very positive from the first day in camp. He buys fully into all the things we demand as a team player, and then he brings his own individual quality to decide football games. That\u2019s what you see in World Cups now, and what you see from other teams and other big players. We have it in him and he\u2019s a key player \u2026 So well done until now. He needs to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

England have returned to their base in Kansas City to prepare for the meeting with the DRC. Marcus \u00adRashford should retain his place in attack after a positive performance on the left. Tuchel refused to be drawn on whether he now knew his best team and believes being able to adapt will hold the key for England.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know my starting 15,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd from there I build and I see the energy on the training pitch and I see what the output is from match to match. Then we see what the opponent brings and how we need to react. But I see good performances and detail out there against very physical opponents, and I think we will find solutions when they are needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a new stage of the tournament, it starts new again. It\u2019s knockout football. It brings its very own tension, its very own dynamics. We\u2019ll prepare for that and be ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Declan Rice will give England a boost by returning for the last-32 game against the Democratic Republic of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-663369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}