Spence reveals broken jaw will force him to wear mask throughout World Cup

Djed Spence will play the entire 2026 World Cup in a protective mask after the England full-back confirmed a broken jaw sustained in a Premier League match against Chelsea will take three months to fully heal. The 25-year-old Tottenham defender suffered the injury in a challenge with striker Liam Delap and was already wearing the mask for Spurs’ final-day survival match against Everton.

“It’s a little bit uncomfortable, but it is what it is,” Spence said after providing the assist for Harry Kane’s winner in England’s 1-0 friendly victory over New Zealand in Tampa on Saturday. “I’ve got a broken jaw, so I have to wear it throughout the tournament, so it’s something I will have to get used to. Three months until it’s fully healed, so it’s a long time.”

Spence described the Delap challenge as a “crazy” one and admitted he was surprised the Chelsea forward was not sent off, though he was quick to move on. “It’s in the past now so just got to focus on this tournament,” he said.

The versatile defender was selected by Thomas Tuchel ahead of fellow left-back options Lewis Hall and Luke Shaw, having first earned his England debut in a 5-0 win in Serbia last September. Despite Tottenham’s turbulent season — which saw three managers in Thomas Frank, Igor Tudor and Roberto De Zerbi take charge before the club scraped Premier League survival on the final day — Spence retained his place in the squad.

He remained philosophical about the injury’s impact on his tournament prospects. “It was painful but luckily I play football with my feet and not my jaw,” he said.

On earning his World Cup call-up despite the difficult club campaign, Spence added: “It shows the manager believes in me, believes in my quality and I’m thankful for him. It’s a huge honour, to play for your country is a big thing and I’m over the moon. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel and we managed to get out of a difficult situation, so we have to move forward.”

England continue their pre-tournament preparations against Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday, with Arsenal quartet Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze available for the first time after joining the camp on Saturday. England open their World Cup campaign against Croatia on 17 June.