He hardly impacted the group stage though(Poland aside), he barely played against Japan and Senegal and it didn't stop people from believing they'd win.
Also with how Colombia played i don't think it would have made a massive difference, James is a player who needs the ball and Colombia hardly had any of it in the final third for much of the game.
Aye and the one game he played all of he was outstanding. They obviously would have tried to take the game to England more if they had James playing. They also did draw with England btw