EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Thomas Tuchel has confirmed Reece James will miss Saturday's Group L finale against Panama, but Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice are available to start.
All three players picked up issues in Wednesday's 0-0 draw with Ghana but only James failed to travel to New Jersey, where England will aim to seal top spot with a win.
"Reecey has a minor hamstring issue," Tuchel said. "He was not able to train the last two days. He is now in accelerated rehabilitation programme,. We take it game by game but we strongly believe he will be available for us in tournament.
"We have hopes [James will be fit] for the next match, It can be a tight one but hopes are still alive."
James has repeatedly suffered with hamstring injuries, missing the last World Cup in Qatar and Euro 2024 but Tuchel continued: "Nobody could see that coming. Reece was in good shape and felt very good.
"So it is a bit unlucky. Ezri Konsa played in the position for us on a high level. It is still no problem.
"We would love to have Reecey, he is a key player. We would love to have him available but we will find solutions. That's what we do. It is a short period of time. It is a tournament. We will find solutions."
Rice had a hamstring complaint while Anderson suffered an unspecified muscular problem but Tuchel said on Friday: "Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice were both in full training today.
"They both had minor issues after the match but had enough time to recover. So everyone but Reece James is available and ready to go. But we will take the decision tonight."
England are strong favourites against Panama and beat the same opponent 6-1 in 2018. However, despite Panama failing to score in the tournament to date following two 1-0 defeats to Ghana and Croatia, Tuchel warned of a challenging encounter against a team ranked 42nd in the world.
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"It is a difficult match against a team that is so difficult to break down," said Tuchel. "They hardly allowed any chances, They conceded in the 95thminute against Ghana in a counter-attack when they tried to score the winner and they allowed two shots on target against Croatia.
"That is basically the story. We see a well-coached, well-drilled team from a coach who is there for five, six years with a clear identity. They are in the world ranking on the same level as Wales and Serbia so it is not the most glamorous football nation but they are strong as a group, they can play in the role of underdog, but they can play without any pressure.
"That's what we expect. It is a complex game. We expect them from time to time to defend in a deep block and we have to try to break it down, accelerate the game in the right moments. We see high press against our goal-kicks, our goalkeeper in game, we see ball possession phases. It is a complex one."