Saka trains alone as England manage Achilles injury before Ghana clash

Bukayo Saka was the only England player absent from group training, a clear sign that Thomas Tuchel is treating the Arsenal winger as a selection call as much as a fitness issue before the meeting with Ghana. England’s staff have kept Saka on an individual programme while he manages an Achilles injury, and the move points to careful workload control rather than an all-out push to rush him back.

The immediate question is not whether Saka matters, but how England will use him if he is not ready to start. England beat Croatia 4-2 in their opening World Cup match, yet Saka was eased into that game only as a 72nd-minute substitute. That cameo suggests Tuchel already views him as a player to be managed through the group stage, with reports indicating he is unlikely to start against Ghana and could be held back again until the final Group L match against Panama.

England’s position in the group gives Tuchel room to be selective. England and Ghana both won their opening Group L matches, and a win in Boston on Tuesday, 23 June 2026, would take England into the knockout stage. England can also secure top spot if Panama fail to beat Croatia in the other group match, so Tuchel does not need to gamble on Saka’s fitness if the medical and performance staff believe the risk outweighs the reward.

That creates a broader squad-depth test for England’s attack. Marcus Rashford, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane give Tuchel enough high-end options to spread the creative load if Saka is limited, while also allowing England to preserve his burst for the later rounds. The shape of the team against Ghana may say more about tournament management than injury panic: England have already shown they can score four without leaning heavily on Saka, and Tuchel now has to decide whether that balance is worth preserving.

Saka himself had offered a positive update earlier in the tournament, saying he was fit and “ready to go” after battling back from hip and Achilles problems that restricted him to 25 Premier League starts during Arsenal’s title-winning season. Even so, England’s caution suggests the issue is being handled as a workload decision with knockout-stage implications, not a short-term training setback.