Quansah limps off against Panama to deepen Tuchel's right-back crisis at World Cup

Jarell Quansah was substituted off injured during England’s World Cup group-stage clash with Panama, handing Thomas Tuchel a fresh defensive headache as the Three Lions prepare for the knockout rounds.

The Bayer Leverkusen defender had been deployed at right-back to cover for Reece James, who was already ruled out through injury. Quansah limped from the field in the second half after calling for the physios following a foul on Jose Luis Rodriguez — a challenge that also earned him a yellow card — and was replaced by Djed Spence.

The setback leaves Tuchel critically short of options at right-back. James and Quansah are both now sidelined, meaning Spence appears to be the only specialist available for the remainder of the tournament.

Gary Neville had flagged the vulnerability before kick-off, questioning the squad-selection decisions that led to England arriving at the World Cup so exposed in that position. “The one position I think I am pretty qualified to speak on is right back,” Neville said. “If you had said to me a couple of months ago that Quansah would be playing right-back for England in a tournament, I would say something has gone badly wrong.”

Neville pointed to the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold as a significant factor. “He’s picked Reece James and Livramento, players who are injury prone. He’s not brought Trent Alexander-Arnold, who obviously is someone with world class quality, for what reasons we can only imagine.”

The pundit had also anticipated Quansah’s role against Panama would be temporary. “Djed Spence is the only real option at right-back,” Neville added. “Quansah is not an option going into the games further into the tournament, so I think the reasons he has probably done it today are he is thinking: ‘look, we can handle Panama, Quansah can play there, and Spence can come in.’” The injury has now made that transition unavoidable rather than tactical.