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The latest England team news and injury updates ahead of their World Cup quarter-final against Norway.
England face Norway in the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup this Saturday, but preparations for the game against Erling Haaland and his colleagues have not gone entirely according to plan – and injuries and suspension mean that there are concerns over the availability of no fewer than five members of the squad.
Declan Rice and Marc Guéhi are among the players to have missed training this week as they face fitness issues, raising doubts over their participation in the match at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. With those worries hanging over England’s heads and kick-off fast approaching, we’ve collected all of the latest injury and selection news below along with our prediction for Thomas Tuchel’s starting line-up.
Declan Rice & Marc Guéhi among doubts for England
Marc Guéhi sustained a strained hamstring during the win over Mexicoplaceholder image
Marc Guéhi sustained a strained hamstring during the win over Mexico | Getty Images
On Friday morning, BBC Sport reported that both Rice and Guéhi had missed team training ahead of the quarter-final showdown with Norway, and that both were now viewed as doubts for the match in Miami.
Guéhi’s exclusion from Wednesday’s session was reported as being precautionary by some media outlets, but the BBC now claim that the Manchester City centre-back suffered a minor hamstring strain during the win over Mexico, while Rice has been dealing with an illness described as a “sickness bug”.
Rice, who was rested for England’s final group stage game against Panama but has otherwise started every match, has also been managing “neural pain” in his hamstring since the turn of the year.
It remains unclear as to whether England believe that either player may need to sit the Norway match out, with Friday’s training session expected to provide further clues as to their availability.
If Guéhi is forced to miss the match, Dan Burn and John Stones will compete for his starting spot, while Rice’s absence would likely mean that Kobbie Mainoo was involved for the first time since the World Cup began. Jordan Henderson, who broke his wrist during the celebrations which followed England’s win in the Estadio Azteca, could still play again this tournament but is not expected to be ready to face Norway.
England hope for James return as right-back crisis deepens
Reecce James is in line to start at right-back as he returns from his own hamstring problemplaceholder image
Reecce James is in line to start at right-back as he returns from his own hamstring problem | Getty Images
Another player who has missed some of England’s training sessions this week is Reece James, who sat out Wednesday’s session and played only a partial role on Thursday as he recovers from the hamstring injury which has ruled him out of England’s last three games.
While the Chelsea wing-back will be monitored heading into the weekend, it is still believed that he should be fit enough to reprise his starting role on the problematic right side of England’s defence.
His availability could be critical for England, who will be without Jarell Quansah for both the quarter-final and a potential semi-final after the 23-year-old was handed a two-match suspension following his straight red card against Mexico.
England are believed to be upset by the length of the suspension and The FA have complained to FIFA that VAR protocols were not followed appropriately when the decision to send Quansah off was made. The length of the ban is especially frustrating given that FIFA revoked USA striker Folarin Balogun’s automatic suspension for a similar offence, apparently after American President Donald Trump asked Gianni Infantino to do so.
England do not have the right to appeal Quansah’s suspension under World Cup rules, however, so he will play no part against Norway and nor is there any clear path towards his involvement against Argentina or Switzerland in the semi-final should England make it that far.
Should James be unavailable, then Tuchel will have to choose between moving Ezri Konsa to right-back or selecting Djed Spence, who looked uncomfortable in the position against the Democratic Republic of Congo in the last 16.
Predicted England line-up vs. Norway (4-2-3-1): Pickford; O’Reilly, Guéhi, Konsa, James; Rice, Anderson; Gordon, Bellingham, Saka; Kane.
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