Why England’s Djed Spence will have to wear protective mask for World Cup | OneFootball

England full-back Djed Spence has revealed he will play the entire World Cup in a mask as his broken jaw sustained in a “crazy challenge” will take three months to heal.

The versatile 25-year-old got the nod for Thomas Tuchel’s England squad ahead of fellow left-backs Lewis Hall and Luke Shaw following a topsy-turvy club campaign.

Spence made his England debut in last September’s 5-0 win in Serbia and has stayed part of the set-up ever since, despite struggling Tottenham only scraping Premier League survival on the final day.

The full-back had to wear a protective mask in the season finale against Everton, having suffered a broken jaw five days earlier in a challenge with Chelsea striker Liam Delap, a blow he has to manage through the World Cup.

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Djed Spence trains with England in Florida (JC Ruiz/PA).

“It’s a little bit uncomfortable, but it is what it is,” Spence said, having provided the assist for Harry Kane’s winner in Saturday’s 1-0 friendly victory over New Zealand in Tampa.

“I’ve got a broken jaw, so I have to wear it throughout the tournament, so it’s something I will have to get used to.

“Three months until it’s fully healed, so it’s a long time.

“I’ve been wearing it in training, getting used to it in the heat and just trying to fit it in properly, so I’ve been trying to break it in. I wore it against Everton, last game of the season.”

Asked if he was surprised Delap was not sent off, Spence said: “Yeah, crazy challenge, but it’s in the past now so just got to focus on this tournament now.”

Spence never feared missing out on the World Cup due to the injury, saying “it was painful but luckily I play football with my feet and not my jaw”.

But his club’s form could easily have dented his England ambitions, with Thomas Frank, Igor Tudor and Roberto De Zerbi all taking charge during a sticky campaign for Spurs.

Spence said of his World Cup call-up: “It shows the manager believes in me, believes in my quality and I’m thankful for him and I just want to keep on putting in the performances to make everyone happy.

“It’s a huge honour, to play for your country is a big thing and I’m over the moon and happy to be here.

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Spence is honoured to represent England at a World Cup (Getty)

“It’s been a difficult season. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel and we managed to get out of a difficult situation, so we have to move forward. Like I said, focus on this World Cup and hopefully it will be a good one.”

England continue preparations for their 17 June opener against Croatia by taking on Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday when England’s Arsenal quartet will be available for the first time.

Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze linked up with the squad on Saturday and could be forgiven for having a quiet word with Spence about a social media post the previous weekend.

In February, Arsenal posted a video of the Spurs defender on X being dispossessed with the caption “locked up” alongside a lock and key emoji.

Spence quoted that post after the Gunners’ Champions League final loss to Paris Saint-Germain with an eyes emoji next to one of an unlocked padlock.

Asked if he expected Arsenal’s players to give him a bit back, he said: “No, no jokes, no jokes.

“I think the most important thing is we have to focus on the tournament and hopefully it’s going to be a good one and we can joke afterwards.”