Tottenham Hotspur fullback Djed Spence was one of the biggest surprise call ups of any nation at teh 2026 World Cup, as mercurial England national team manager Thomas Tuchel selected his former Tottenham rival over one of the best right backs in the world and one of the biggest names in the natoinal team in Trent Alexander-Arnold of Real Madrid.
Tuchel clearly preferred Spence's grit and one on one defending as a squad player to Trent, and he doubled down on his constant snubbings of the Real Madrid man in his international break squads by confirming Spence as his main choice to back Reece James up at right back.
Well, Spence has been playing a key role for Tuchel thus far at the World Cup. After shining off the bench in the first game against Croatia, a huge 4-2 win for the Three Lions over Luka Modric and Co., Tuchel surprisingly gave Spence an even bigger opportunity at his usual position for Tottenham, left back. He started Spence over one of the best left backs of the 2025/26 Premier League season in Manchester City's breakout young gun Nico O'Reilly.
Djed Spence could be England's main man
So far, Djed Spence has only proven Thomas Tuchel right, but now, he has an even bigger opportunity on the horizon for the England national team. Because according to a report from David Hytner, Jacob Steinberg, and Ed Aarons of The Guardian, Tuchel's former Chelsea star Reece James will miss at least two games for Engand with a hamstring injury.
As any Tottenham Hotspur fan can attest, hamstring injuries are tricky, and heading into the knockout stages with England sealed into the Round of 32 and only Panama before them, Spence could be the main player for the rest of the way if the injury prone James cannot recover quickly.
Tottenham can safely say that with their own injury prone left back Destiny Udogie, Spence has proven that his best abilit is his availability, and Tuchel will feel comfortable turning to him. And Spence has a huge opportunity to send a message to the rest of the Premier League that whether at left back or right back, he is a quality footballer and more than just a backup player at a club that almost got relegated last season.
Spence has a chance to make himself the center of a transfer conversation. Fullbacks, especially versatile ones, are valuable, and guys with grit who can stay healthy and defend are becoming in style. Tottenham fans will be watching him closely, especially since the James injury means he's getting one start at right back in the knockouts.
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