England star pranks Thomas Tuchel with fake injury in hilarious behind-the-scenes footage

Thomas Tuchel was almost left needing a shoulder to cry on after John Stones hilariously pranked the England boss with a fake injury.

The Three Lions boss was keen to celebrate the dramatic 3-2 victory over Mexico when he thought more fitness issues had struck.

England have been without their first-choice right-back, Reece James, since the opening two games of the World Cup due to injury.

The Chelsea captain picked up a hamstring strain during the goalless draw with Ghana and has missed the past three matches.

Tino Livramento already had to pull out on the eve of the tournament, while Bukayo Saka has been struggling for peak fitness as well.

England’s injury issues were then compounded against Mexico, when Jordan Henderson suffered a freak wrist injury post-match.

The Brentford star has since undergone an operation to repair a broken radius after falling awkwardly over the advertising hoardings.

And Tuchel thought another of his senior stars had picked up a knock as England‘s celebrations continued in the Azteca dressing rooms.

With the music in full flow, the cameras panned to Stones hunched over and holding his arm at a strange angle.

Declan Rice soon joined in on the bit, as he signalled for Tuchel’s attention before audibly saying: “He’s done his shoulder!”

The Arsenal midfielder mimed doing a rotator cuff stretch before huddling over Stones to keep up the pretence of an injury.

It was at this moment that the video zeroed in on Tuchel, who had stopped clapping to the music and looked in horror at Stones.

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Gotcha gaffer!

All was soon revealed when Stones used the beat drop of the song to turn his apparent shoulder injury into an arm pump to the beat.

An overjoyed Tuchel started bouncing up and down as the music played before laughing and rushing over to embrace his defender.

Speaking of the incident with England’s in-house media, Stones was jokingly asked about his shoulder.

To which he quipped: “It’s feeling better now, it’s feeling better – it has its ups and downs.”

Before adding: “I tried to keep a straight face as I was doing it because I saw he [Tuchel] was concerned and thinking, ‘Has he actually hurt himself?’

“Especially after what Hendo had just done outside.”

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Revealing that the England players were already aware of the stitch-up, Elliot Anderson remarked: “We’ve already seen him do it though, so we all knew what was coming, but he didn’t.”

Stones then concluded by saying: “It was goo, it was good vibes in there for everyone.”

Stones, who started England’s World Cup opener against Croatia, was an unused substitute in the following Group L matches against Ghana and Panama, before playing one minute in the round of 32 win over DR Congo.

However, the ex-Manchester City defender proved his fitness with an impressive 33-minute cameo off the bench to help see out the 3-2 win over Mexico.

Stones came into the World Cup having played just 78 Premier League minutes in 2026 after suffering real injury issues.

Speaking of his fitness following England’s win over Mexico, Stones said: “I’ve been ready to go [and play full matches] from earlier in the year.

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“I’ve not had the opportunity, which is what it is.

“I’m frustrated when I don’t play. I want to play.

“But I feel like the mentality of the boys that don’t play is incredible, and that’s something that is rare within a tournament.

“You’re away from family, you’re training every day, you’re not playing as much as you’d like to … and we’re all hungry to help.

“We all have the same goal in mind, which is to get to that final and see where it takes us. I feel great, and I’m loving helping and performing the way I did against Mexico.”

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