Inter star Spence out of England squad for Croatia, but should be ready for Spain
MILAN, ITALY - OCTOBER 10: Djed Spence of FC Internazionale Milano warms up as a substitute during the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and Parma Calcio at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on October 10, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
Inter wide man Djed Spence will not be part of the England squad to face Croatia, confirms Thomas Tuchel, but he ought to be ready to play against Spain this weekend.
England are in Nations League Group 3 and sit in second place behind Spain, having won all three matches after the opening 3-2 home defeat to the World Cup winners.
They will host Luka Modric’s Croatia on Thursday evening, the close out the group with a head-to-head in Spain on Sunday.
Spence injury problems for England and Inter
England manager Tuchel confirmed in today’s press conference that Spence and Ezri Konsa will not feature in the game against Croatia, but are expected to return to full training by Saturday.
They ought to therefore be ready for the Spain trip, but it seems unlikely at this point that the Inter player will be in the starting XI.
It has been a tough season for the 26-year-old, who was a key figure in England’s World Cup run to the semi-final and eventually securing third place over the summer.
He made the transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Inter on August 15, yet had to wait until October 10 until making his debut for the Italian club in a 3-0 Serie A victory over Parma.
Spence struggled for fitness, but is starting to finally find his feet, playing all 90 minutes for three matches in a row between Serie A and the Champions League, providing two assists in those fixtures.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.