What time is England playing today? England are due to face Panama this evening on Saturday after a 0-0 draw with Ghana on Tuesday, and Thomas Tuchel is trying to solve a low-block problem with selection issues already piling up. Reece James is out at right-back for at least two games, while Declan Rice is one booking from a ban and had strapping on his left calf after Ghana.
Tuchel’s right-back puzzle
James' absence leaves England short on natural width from deep. The squad includes only three attacking full-backs, so the burden of supporting the wingers now falls on Nico O’Reilly, with Ezri Konsa, Jarell Quansah and Djed Spence among the alternatives at right-back.
That is the practical problem Tuchel has to solve against Panama. England need a way through a compact defence, and they have already shown the difference space can make: they were exhilarating when given room by Croatia, Serbia and Wales, but laboured against Andorra, Albania and Latvia in qualifying.
Rice and the midfield balance
Rice adds another layer of uncertainty. He remains one booking from a ban and finished the Ghana match with strapping on his left calf, so England have to manage both discipline and workload in the middle of the pitch.
That leaves Tuchel weighing how much risk to take in a game England still need to win to keep control of the group. Panama are already out after 1-0 defeats by Ghana and Croatia, but they are still a side England are being told to treat as awkward, not harmless.
Panama after 2018
England beat Panama 6-1 at the 2018 World Cup, and Thomas Christiansen’s team have since become harder to dismiss. For England, the issue is not the old scoreline but whether the current lineup can produce more of the fast, clean attacking play Tuchel wants without James and with Rice still carrying a fitness concern.
Harry Kane sits inside that decision too. The question is whether Tuchel rests him or starts him, because the team’s best route through Panama’s low block may depend on how much attacking edge he wants from the first whistle.
