Quansah out and England's right-back crisis hits the knockouts

Quansah likely out, right-back crisis deepens

Jarell Quansah is likely to miss Wednesday's last-32 tie against DR Congo with an ankle injury (1) (2). Tino Livramento and Reece James are also out. Tuchel is worried, and he has reason to be, three right-backs down before a knockout match. England topped Group L after beating Panama 2–0 on Saturday and Croatia 3–0 in the opener, but the backline is now the story (3) (4).

Rice set to start against DR Congo

Declan Rice is expected to start on Wednesday despite managing hamstring neural pain since Christmas (8). Jamie Carragher had argued England could not afford to rest him against Ghana, and now the knockouts are here, Rice is going to play through it.

Tuchel on Bellingham: he bought in

Thomas Tuchel praised Jude Bellingham after another man-of-the-match performance drove England into the knockouts (5). The 22-year-old has been central to everything. Tuchel highlighted Bellingham's buy-in to the team ethic, and the results show it: two wins, five goals scored, none conceded.

Pickford: we don't want penalties

Jordan Pickford is backing England to win without shootouts. "We don't want penalties," he said, pointing to the team's attacking approach (7). England have kept two clean sheets so far, and Pickford sounds like a man who trusts what is in front of him.

Fan reactions

The Kane-to-Barcelona rumour from Craig Hope has lit up the subreddit, fans are split between dismissing it as typical Daily Mail fare and genuinely worrying about the timeline. The Quansah injury news has the mood edgy, with supporters calling it a disaster right before the knockouts. Read the full thread.