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Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah has been called into England's FIFA World Cup 2026 squad as Newcastle United's Tino Livramento has been ruled out of the tournament after suffering a calf injury ahead of England's opening match against Croatia on Wednesday (local time) in Arlington, according to the England Football website.
Livramento picked up the injury during training on Sunday, and subsequent scans and medical tests on Monday confirmed that he would be unable to take part in the tournament. Chalobah will travel to the Three Lions' base camp in Kansas City, while the rest of the squad will move on to Dallas, Texas, for England's opening group match against Croatia. "Arrangements are now being made for the Chelsea defender to make the journey to the team's basecamp in Kansas City, while the rest of the squad will head to Dallas, Texas for the Three Lions' opening group fixture against Croatia on Wednesday," England Football said in a statement on Tuesday. FIFA regulations allow participating teams to replace an outfield player up to 24 hours before their opening fixture. Notably, Bukayo Saka, ahead of the Croatia match, said, as per Reuters, that he is prepared to play through pain for Thomas Tuchel's side, insisting he is fit to play despite an Achilles problem. The Arsenal winger had his workload carefully managed towards the end of the season, starting just one match in nearly a month, and admitted he is still not at full sharpness. "As players, it's the biggest gamble, especially if you're not feeling your sharpest. You have the choice whether you don't play or you put yourself out there knowing people are going to judge you the same. At the end of the day, people don't really care how you're feeling, they expect you to deliver, they expect you to perform. I'm happy to take the gamble. It paid off, I'd say. I'm going to continue doing that. But I am feeling a lot better than I did in March and I'm ready to go," said as quoted by Reuters. (ANI)
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