England injury update ahead of France including John Stones, Declan Rice and Callum Wilson

The Three Lions will face the biggest test of their World Cup test when they take on France and Gareth Southgate has been watching as his team train at their Al Wakrah base in Doha. England won only six knockout games at the World Cup between 1976 to 2016 but have won six since 2018, which is evidence of the growth and class of the current crop of players.

All that will not count for much though if they are beaten by France and crash out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage. Raheem Sterling, who left the camp and went back to London after his home was burgled, is on his way back to Al Wakrah while Ben White headed home because of personal reasons, has left the campaign permanently.

Here is the latest on the injury front, as Southgate sharpens up for the most important game of his coaching career:

Declan Rice

The West Ham talisman missed training on Wednesday due to illness, but initially there questions over were on whether he had in fact picked up an injury and was a doubt for the game against Les Bleus. He returned to training and was part of the group on Thursday evening. Rice is a key member of the team and his health will be crucial to the coaching staff.

John Stones

The Manchester City man was withdrawn in the 3-0 win over Senegal and there had been concerns over his fitness. He has since been training with the entire squad at the England team base, but it’s worth keeping an eye on his fitness ahead of what is one of the biggest games in recent English football history.

With so many games and little time to turn around, Stones and all starters will have to report to the medical team when they feel something in their body and the fact he’s in training suggest that his issue wasn’t anything massive.

Callum Wilson

The Newcastle striker raised concerns over his fitness ahead of the game against France and missed some training with muscle issues reported to the problem. He was on the bench against Senegal and the FA confirmed he had muscle strain, so he is another who will be watched closely ahead of the game tomorrow night.

He’s since taken to Instagram to reveal he’s been back to training but this is the World Cup, so it’s important all players are 100% healthy and ready.