Declan Rice is at risk of being suspended for England after picking up a booking in Tuesday's goalless draw against Ghana. The midfielder was shown a yellow card for a foul on Jerome Opoku just before half-time as the Three Lions were forced to share the spoils. It marked England's first booking of the tournament, with nobody being cautioned in the opening victory over Croatia.
If Rice picks up another booking in the final group-stage match against Panama, he will be suspended for England's second-round match. Under FIFA rules, two yellow cards at the World Cup lead to an automatic one-game suspension. However, single yellows are wiped after the group stage concludes.
In a new change to the rules, as part of the expanded 48-team format, bookings are later wiped for a second time after the quarter-finals.
It means that only a red card in the semi-finals would prevent a player from featuring in the final, contrary to previous years where players have been suspended after picking up two yellows in the knockout phase.
Rice is essentially a guaranteed starter for England when fit, meaning Thomas Tuchel will need to make a big decision over whether to play him against Panama.
With the Three Lions all but assured of a place in the knockout stages, they can afford to rotate their squad against the Group L minnows.
However, they will be desperate to secure victory to give themselves the best possible path in the second round. England are currently top of the group, on the same number of points as Ghana but with a better goal difference.
Speaking after the final whistle, the 27-year-old did not comment on his fitness but said he believed England still had a great chance to finish top of their group.
He explained: "It is always difficult when you play against 11 behind the ball as deep as they were, but you have to find solutions. In the last 10 minutes, we were unlucky not to score.
"We still have a great chance to top the group against Panama, so positivity all round. They [Ghana] were very compact, 5-4-1 off the ball and tight spaces to play through, but on the other hand, we can do more with the ball.
"You have to give credit to Ghana. It’s tough and they are good players so it was never going to be an easy game. We have one more group game to top the group, so we have to be positive."