Tino Livramento won't kick a ball at this World Cup. A calf injury has ended the Newcastle defender's tournament before it started, with England's opener against Croatia just hours away.
Thomas Tuchel had 24 hours to name a replacement and went with Chelsea's Trevoh Chalobah — a player with one senior England cap to his name, earned in a 3-1 friendly defeat to Senegal a year ago. It's not a like-for-like swap in terms of profile or momentum, but Tuchel's options were limited once Livramento went down.
A frustrating end to a frustrating season
Livramento's World Cup call-up was already something of a reward for persistence. He made just 26 appearances for Newcastle last season, repeatedly derailed by knee, hamstring, and thigh problems that cost him 25 games. Six England caps, international debut under Lee Carsley in November 2024 — and now this.
Tuchel still has depth at full-back. Reece James, Djed Spence, and Nico O'Reilly are all available, with Jarell Quansah and Dan Burn capable of covering if needed. The squad isn't thin. But Livramento was selected for a reason, and Chalobah is a different kind of player stepping into a different kind of role.
Anyone betting on England's defensive solidity early in the tournament should factor in this unsettled picture on the right. Tuchel's backline was already being reconfigured — Trent Alexander-Arnold, Lewis Hall, and Luke Shaw were all left out of the original squad.
Maguire watches from home
The call-up that didn't happen is generating its own noise. Harry Maguire was omitted from Tuchel's original 26-man squad and learned about it via FaceTime — which, by his own account, was as awkward as it sounds.
"Something got released in the media about half an hour before I got told that my place was in doubt," the Manchester United defender said on The Rest Is Football podcast. "That was the most frustrating thing."
He pushed back on the decision directly. "I thought I did enough to be in the squad. I wasn't demanding to go and start the games. I'd have been happy to play one minute." Tuchel's explanation, by Maguire's telling, was that he'd gone with the defenders who performed across the autumn qualifying campaign — but acknowledged he couldn't fully justify leaving Maguire out.
At 33, Maguire knows the next World Cup is a long shot. Chalobah gets the call instead. That's football.
