Tino Livramento's World Cup Dream in Jeopardy

Tino Livramento’s World Cup dream is hanging by a thread.

The Newcastle United full-back has suffered a muscular injury in training and is now a major doubt for England’s campaign, just days before Gareth Southgate’s side open against Croatia on Wednesday night (21:00 BST).

Late blow for a latecomer

Livramento, 23, was already walking a tightrope with his fitness. He missed the final five weeks of the club season with a thigh problem, and his place in the squad always carried an asterisk. Now, after breaking down in Sunday’s training session, he is being assessed by England’s medical staff with the clock ticking loudly in the background.

World Cup rules allow outfield players to be replaced up to 24 hours before a team’s first match if they suffer a serious injury or illness. England are right up against that deadline.

Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah, on the stand-by list, is the obvious next man up if Livramento is ruled out.

A rapid rise stalled

Livramento’s ascent into the England set-up has been sharp. Handed his debut under Southgate in November 2024, he has since featured five times during Thomas Tuchel’s tenure, starting twice. The coaching staff see him as a modern full-back: aggressive, quick, and comfortable high up the pitch.

He came on at half-time in the 1-0 warm-up win over New Zealand, offering energy and thrust down the flank. He then watched from the bench as England edged past Costa Rica. The plan, it seemed, was to carry him into the tournament as a genuine rotation option, especially with concerns elsewhere in the position.

Now that plan is in serious jeopardy.

Right-back roulette

Reece James remains Tuchel’s first-choice right-back, but his own fitness is hardly reassuring. The 26-year-old missed nine games for Chelsea at the end of the season with a hamstring injury, another chapter in an injury-plagued campaign that has tested patience at both club and country.

If James falters and Livramento is unavailable, England’s right side suddenly looks far less settled.

• Djed Spence is one alternative already in the squad. Able to operate on both flanks, he has featured six times under Tuchel and offers pace and direct running, if not the same level of international experience.
• Ezri Konsa is another option, though he is primarily a centre-back. He has played 11 times for England, starting nine, and would bring defensive security but a different profile to the role.

None of them were supposed to carry this much responsibility. Not this soon. Not all at once.

Chalobah waiting in the wings

That is where Chalobah comes in. The Chelsea defender, like Konsa, prefers to play at centre-back, but his versatility across the back line makes him a logical replacement if England need one more defensive body.

Chalobah has not played for England since June 2025, when he completed the full 90 minutes in a friendly against Senegal. He has, however, remained on the fringes, named on the bench for multiple World Cup qualifiers under Tuchel without getting on the pitch.

He knows the system. He knows the demands. He just hasn’t had the recent minutes.

All of which leaves England’s coaching staff with an unwelcome equation: a first-choice right-back with a fragile hamstring, a dynamic understudy now facing a race against time, and a group of adaptable but less natural replacements.

For Livramento, the next 24 hours will decide whether this World Cup becomes the launchpad of his international career or a tournament watched from afar, wondering what might have been.