Should England drop Djed Spence vs Mexico? Vote now on World Cup dilemma | Football | Sport

England came within a whisker of seeing their World Cup campaign come to an end. The Three Lions were trailing for most of their clash against DR Congo, only for Harry Kane to drag them out of trouble once again with a quick-fire brace.

Kane netted twice inside 11 minutes to keep England’s World Cup hopes alive, while setting up a round-of-16 clash against co-hosts Mexico in the process. It’s set to be the most difficult test of the Thomas Tuchel era so far, with Mexico boasting an imperious record at the Azteca Stadium.

The two sides will go head-to-head in the early hours of Monday morning UK time, but before then, Tuchel has some big decisions to make regarding England’s starting XI. Right-back has emerged as a problem for England, given Reece James’ ongoing fitness woes and the injury that stand-in Jarell Quansah picked up during the Panama clash.

Djed Spence was deployed at right-back for the DR Congo clash, but the Spurs man didn’t last the full 90 and faced plenty of criticism for his role in the opening goal. Declan Rice was moved to right back, with some suggestions he could start the game in that position. It’s sparked debates as to whether Spence should be starting in the Mexico match, but what do you reckon?

Have your say on whether Djed Spence should start at right-back for England against Mexico in the round-of-32 below…

There is some hope that James could be back in the picture for the Mexico match, with the Chelsea star having given an update on his future following England’s progression. It was short and sweet, with James saying: “It’s OK. I’m feeling good.”

Speaking ahead of the DR Congo match, Tuchel had insisted James wasn’t far off a return. He explained: “They [James and Quansah] are getting closer and closer. I saw both of them on the pitch. Jarell is a little bit ahead of Reece in the nature of the injury.

“But the race was close even to make it into the squad this time. So we need to make sure we have more matches [in the tournament], and then they will be available very soon. You find solutions. It is a team sport. We would love to have Reece and Jarell with us, but they are injured at the moment. Other players will step up and we will push this over the line.