England players had a squad meeting on Thursday night to decide whether to make any sort of gesture ahead of their clash with United States.
Germany players put their hands across their mouths prior to kick-off in their defeat to Japan, signalling they felt gagged by FIFA threatening punishment if they wore the OneLove armband. The German gesture kept the controversy very much alive and John Stones said it would be discussed by the players but implied they would not make a similar move.
The England defender said: “In our meeting, we'll talk about these sorts of things. We don't want to get carried away with what other people are doing.
“We want to stay true to our own values but, at the same time that we do want to make things heard and aware of how we feel, we want to get everyone's opinion across in the right way.
“I feel it's really difficult at the minute to do that without upsetting peoples' rules or whatever it might be. There's a really fine line with all this and so far we're trying to stick to our values and what we believe in as a team.”
And Harry Maguire, who will win his 50th cap when he lines up against the US, confirmed the players were talking about the situation, saying: “We have spoken about it as a group and we will act when we think it is appropriate to act. Our full focus is on winning games of football for the World Cup.
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“We are fully focused on the football but I am sure we will have conversations throughout the tournament and we will act when we feel it is right to act.”
Speaking earlier this week, Gareth Southgate said he is keen to ensure competing nations do not feel the need to one-up each other with their gestures. The England manager asked: "Do we have to come up with a better gesture than Germany did?
"I think we've got to be comfortable that we know what we stand for. That's not to say we won't do anything moving forward if the timing is right but I think if we're rushing to be seen to be doing something then we could make an error which doesn't land well.
"At this moment in time, for the players and myself especially, we've got to be focused on the games. Of course, the FA take the responsibility seriously. We are never going to duck any questions. The fact that we are still talking about these matters keeps them in the spotlight and helps to raise awareness."
