England will face Croatia at Wembley without one of their most important attackers. Bukayo Saka, the Arsenal winger who has been Thomas Tuchel’s first choice on the right flank, is still recovering from a quad injury and will not be available for Matchday 5 of the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League, nor for the rest of the international break.
Saka suffered the injury after just 10 minutes of Arsenal’s Champions League match against Bayern Munich last month, and he has since missed Arsenal’s last five games.
There were initial fears that he could be out for up to eight weeks, but Mikel Arteta has been cautiously optimistic about his recovery. “The way it happened, it wasn’t a really aggressive action,” the Arsenal manager said ahead of the win over Hull on Nov. 7.
“So that gives you some hope as well that the tissue will repair in a more efficient and faster way as well and he has some very good symptoms right now. So we have to wait and see,” the Spanish coach concluded about Saka’s recovery, as the winger still has no confirmed return date.
The absence comes at a decisive moment for England, who have won three of their four Nations League games without conceding a goal, and whose only loss was a 3-2 defeat at Wembley against Spain in late September.
A draw against Croatia would be enough to guarantee a place in the quarterfinals, while top spot in the group will be decided on Sunday in Madrid, where Tuchel’s side will face Spain without Saka again.
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Who will replace Saka on England’s right wing?
Tuchel has already identified who will try to fill the gap left by Saka. “I think it’s Morgan Rogers for us and then it will be Rio [Ngumoha] on that side. He played there for Liverpool and impressed in the last camp,” the England coach said, naming the Chelsea forward as the likeliest to start on the right against Croatia, with Ngumoha as the alternative.
He also mentioned other possibilities: “Josh King can maybe play there, we will try this, and then Morgan Gibbs-White can play on the wing. We need runners there who can attack through the lines, so I think we have options”.
The options are also reduced because Noni Madueke, who deputized for Saka at the World Cup in the summer, was left out of the squad. Tuchel admitted that the decision was not easy: “It’s a close call and difficult decision not to bring Noni, but we stick with the group that we had and give them our trust”.
Whoever gets the nod on Thursday will face a double challenge, because Saka will also be absent on Sunday against Spain, a match that could decide who finishes first in the group. For Tuchel, the performance of his replacement against Croatia could therefore be an indication of how England will approach the next game without one of their key attackers.
