England to take cautious approach over Saka’s fitness ahead of World Cup

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

England boss Thomas Tuchel will take a cautious approach over Bukayo Saka’s fitness ahead of the World Cup, with the Arsenal winger managing an Achilles issue. 

Saka withdrew from England’s previous camp, in March, due to an Achilles tendon injury that also caused him to miss five games for his club.

The winger ultimately played through the pain barrier to help Arsenal win the Premier League title and reach the Champions League final, where they were beaten by Paris Saint-Germain on penalties.

Saka was not involved in England’s 1-0 friendly win over New Zealand on Saturday due to the Arsenal players in Tuchel’s squad being granted extra time off, with his most recent outing for the Three Lions coming in their final World Cup qualifier last November.

England handed minutes to 22 different players in that match, the first time they had done so in any fixture since June 2004 against Iceland, a 6-1 win in their final warm-up game before Euro 2004.

Tuchel intends to give some of his key players 60 to 70 minutes against Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday, but Saka will be assessed prior to the Three Lions’ final warm-up. 

“We still have to take a little bit of care for Bukayo, who had an injury in March and carried it through the club campaign,” Tuchel told reporters on Tuesday.

“He made himself available at the end of the season and did so brilliantly, but he was managed in between matches. 

“That continues a bit at the moment. We are building him up. We just came from training and everyone was involved, including Bukayo.”

Our four @Arsenal players have joined up with the #ThreeLions in Florida  pic.twitter.com/4kKWoduArE

— England (@England) June 7, 2026

England have only lost their final match before a World Cup tournament once in their 16 previous participations (W9 D6), a 7-1 defeat to Hungary in a friendly prior to 1954.

The Three Lions have also won each of their last 11 internationals against sides ranked outside the top 50 in the FIFA World Rankings (Costa Rica are 52nd) by an aggregate score of 28-1, since a 0-0 draw with Slovenia in June 2024, last losing to such an opponent earlier the same month (1-0 to Iceland).

One of Tuchel’s main selection dilemmas going into the tournament appeared to be at centre-back, with John Stones the presumed starter alongside Marc Guehi despite only starting 13 times for Manchester City last season.

Tuchel is confident that the 32-year-old will be ready, though, as he said: “He feels very, very good. He feels fully competitive. 

“He hasn’t played a lot of minutes – not as many as we would have liked – but he was available all season and that’s a big difference. 

“He wasn’t injured much, he has trust in his body, and most importantly, he did very well for us when he was in the camp.

“He offers a lot as a player at the highest level and is a defender of the highest quality. He can step into midfield, he’s confident in build-up, and he can switch between different formations fluidly. He’s a proven winner, he knows what it takes to win.” 

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