Reece James
#24 · Defender · age 26
Returns to a major tournament after years of injuries
92
WC26 rating
- Recent form
- 70
- Career peak
- 100
- League level
- 100
- Competition pedigree
- 98
- International pedigree
- 68
- Longevity
- 76
Independent rating — league strength (Opta-anchored) × competition tier × position-normalized output. Not affiliated with EA or FIFA.
Career by season
Source: transfermarkt · fetched 2026-05-29
When fit, James is the best two-way right-back in the England squad and arguably the best deliverer of a ball from deep. Tuchel’s preferred structure with Stones inverting from centre-back into midfield gives James licence to push very high on the right, almost as a third forward, with Saka cutting inside. The wholly legitimate concern is durability — he has averaged under 20 Premier League matches per season over the last three years — and Tino Livramento is here as the like-for-like backup if the body fails again. A full healthy tournament from Reece James is one of England’s most powerful ‘what if’ scenarios.
Strengths
- long-range right-footed passing and switches
- crossing from deep and from the half-space
- powerful 1v1 defending
- set-piece delivery
Recent form
Played 24 Premier League matches for Chelsea in 2025-26 — his most since 2021-22 — finishing the season strongly.
Is the son of football coach Nigel James, who also coached his sister Lauren James to a senior England Lionesses career — both Reece and Lauren were called up to senior England squads in the same fortnight in 2020.