Thomas Tuchel has said “sharp” back pain ruled Kobbie Mainoo out of England’s bronze final against France at the World Cup, after the midfielder was a surprising absentee.
England coach Tuchel made seven changes to his starting XI as England beat France 6-4 in an unexpected thriller, three days after the Three Lions suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Argentina in the semi-finals.
Against France, Tuchel was expected to hand starts to players who had not featured much or at all this month, and the clearest beneficiaries were goalkeeper Dean Henderson and striker Ivan Toney. Yet Mainoo would have been another obvious option in midfield.
However, it was announced before kick-off in Miami, Florida, that the Manchester United youngster was out with an injury, despite not having played a single minute at the World Cup.
“Kobbie was injured in the last training session yesterday morning,” Tuchel said of the 21-year-old on Saturday. “He had a sharp pain in the back within the training and he was not ready to play.”
Mainoo’s absence from England’s World Cup venture was lamented by many fans, especially given the nature of the loss to Argentina.
England took a 1-0 second-half lead through Anthony Gordon, only to fall back into their own box and defend desperately, with Tuchel’s substitutions appearing to exacerbate the problem. Enzo Fernandez struck a late equaliser from the edge of the box, before an even-later header by Lautaro Martinez sealed a spot in Sunday’s final against Spain.
Many England fans believed that the team needed a midfielder who could keep ahold of the ball, suggesting that Mainoo would have been capable.
However, he would have needed to be thrusted into the game with zero minutes to his name, after Tuchel did not hand him any match time throughout the tournament.
