Tuchel calls up Chalobah over Alexander-Arnold to cover Livramento injury

Thomas Tuchel has turned to Chelsea centre-back Trevoh Chalobah to fill the void left by Tino Livramento, who sustained a calf injury in training at England’s Kansas City base and has been ruled out of the 2026 World Cup squad.

Livramento’s injury was assessed as requiring four to five weeks of recovery — too long for him to remain in contention — prompting Tuchel to make a replacement call that raised immediate questions. The England manager had several orthodox full-backs available, including Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly and Newcastle’s Lewis Hall, but chose instead to bring in Chalobah, a natural centre-back.

Tuchel justified the unconventional selection by pointing to the positional flexibility it unlocks elsewhere in the squad. “We called Trevoh Chalobah because it frees up Jarrell Quansah to play full-back on both sides, and Djed Spence can play full-back on both sides, so it gives us full coverage in defence,” the England manager said.

The decision leaves England with Reece James, Nico O’Reilly and Djed Spence as the squad’s orthodox full-back options, with Bayer Leverkusen’s Jarell Quansah now earmarked to provide cover across the back line on either flank.

England open their World Cup campaign against Croatia at Dallas Stadium on Wednesday in Group L.