England star Bukayo Saka still building up fitness ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup

England star Bukayo Saka still building up fitness ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup

England face Costa Rica today in their final preparatory fixture before the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

England's meeting with Costa Rica represents their last tune-up before the tournament, where they have been drawn in Group L. Their World Cup campaign will begin on 17 June against Croatia.

Saka, who helped Arsenal reach the UEFA Champions League final, is available for selection but is still short of full match sharpness and will be carefully managed.

The winger suffered an Achilles tendon injury in March, which kept him out for 29 days and forced him to miss seven matches during his recovery.

"No one needs a break; everyone is available. That's the very good news," Tuchel said.

"No one was injured, and no complaints after the first match. We're ready to give it a push [against Costa Rica]. A push means more than 45 minutes, players will play 60, maybe some 70, the decision is not made yet. That's the plan.

"We then have the chance one day later in a match behind closed doors at our training facility, then pre-camp is finished and we start our adventure two days later in Kansas."

He added: "We still have to take care of Bukayo [Saka] a little bit, who had an injury in the March camp and carried it through into his club campaign and was available and made himself available at the end of the season and did this brilliantly and was managed in between matches.

"That continues a little bit at the moment. We're building him up. Noni [Madueke] is 100% available, Declan is 100% available and Ebs [Eberechi Eze] as well."
 

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