A man carrying a wrench walked into England's World Cup media centre on Thursday. He was escorted out, police dealt with it, and the FA are reviewing their security protocols. Strange scene — but it barely registers on the list of things Thomas Tuchel needs to worry about before Saturday's quarter-final against Norway.
The fitness picture is genuinely messy. Declan Rice has missed two days of training this week with a sickness bug, and he's been managing a lower back and hamstring problem throughout the tournament. Marc Guehi is carrying a hamstring issue of his own. Bukayo Saka has been nursing an Achilles injury since March that has kept him off the pitch for 90 minutes in any single game so far. And Jarell Quansah won't feature at all — FIFA confirmed a two-match ban following his red card in the win over Mexico, ruling him out of both the Norway game and a potential semi-final.
Saka's minutes are building — but is he quarter-final ready?
"I would have loved to come to this tournament 100 per cent, but that wasn't the case," Saka said. "Right now, I'm feeling great and I'm ready to go."
Encouraging words. But Saka has started just two of England's games — Panama and Mexico — coming off the bench in the rest, never completing a full match. Against a Norway side likely to test England's width and defensive depth, how much Tuchel can actually rely on him is a genuine question. Anyone pricing England's attacking output on Saturday should factor in that their most dynamic wide player is still being managed carefully.
England beat Mexico in a thriller at the Azteca to reach this stage and will fly to Miami on Friday ahead of the 10pm BST kick-off. If they get through, a semi-final against Argentina or Switzerland awaits — back in Kansas City.
The wrench incident will become a footnote. The injury list is the real story going into the weekend.
