Credit: Manh Tung - Breaking Media

Daniel Davis

Sat 28 March 2026 8:10, UK

Djed Spence started for England in the 1-1 draw with Uruguay on Friday night – but the Tottenham Hotspur full-back may not have done enough to win over Thomas Tuchel.

Spence played 70 minutes of the tempestuous 1-1 draw at Wembley and caught the eye at left-back as he looked to guarantee his spot in the World Cup squad.

However, despite delivering a lively performance, his spot on the plane this summer looks in doubt and frustratingly for the Spurs man, it isn’t even his fault.

By all accounts, Tuchel was pleased with his display, as was the 80,000-strong crowd, but with competition for places hotting up, he still has plenty of work to do.

Spence will be crucial in Tottenham’s relegation fight when he returns to club duties after the international break, but for now, he will focus on winning over the Three Lions boss.

Why is Djed Spence’s World Cup spot at risk?

The 25-year-old was bright against the South American opposition and barely put a foot wrong. But he will know he fell short of the flawless showing he was hoping for.

With competition fierce at right-back, Tuchel played Spence on the left-hand side. At present, though, Lewis Hall and Nico O’Reilly have a better chance of starting at the World Cup.

Simply, Spence is not at his best on the left. A natural right-footer, his preference is to cut inside and use his stronger boot, but this often makes him too predictable.

It can also leave his teams exposed down the channel, as shown when he pushed up the pitch and vacated space behind, which Uruguay almost exploited on the counter-attack.

He did, however, do enough to remain in contention for the starting XI.

According to Sofascore, he won both of his attempted tackles at Wembley, blocked one shot and came out on top in five of his nine ground duels.

Crucially, he also completed 28 of his 34 passes, an 82 per cent hit rate, and was successful with three of his four dribbles. Curiously, he did not attempt a cross the whole game.

Judging from the current make-up of the squad, if Spence does travel to the United States, Canada and Mexico, it will be as a squad player – albeit a very useful one.

Thomas Tuchel reaction speaks volumes

A notorious disciplinarian, Tuchel will demand the best from his players while he makes up his mind over his final World Cup group.

On one occasion, Spence fell foul of these high standards.

According to journalist Dom Smith, the head coach was “absolutely fuming” with the Spurs ace after he didn’t track a runner, leaving him “acres” to run into.

He was similarly caught on his toes twice in the first half, leading Smith to declare Spence as “suspect” positionally. This doesn’t bode well for his hopes of starting regularly for England.

It was only recently that Spence was rightly called out by Danny Murphy for a poor performance in Spurs’ 3-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest, but he was steady for England.

Unfortunately for him, he will have wanted more than that.