Thomas Tuchel revealed Declan Rice spent much of the build-up to England’s World Cup quarter-final against Norway in bed with illness before helping the Three Lions reach the last four.
The Arsenal midfielder started Saturday’s 2-1 win in Miami despite battling sickness in the days leading up to the match, but was replaced at half-time by club team-mate Eberechi Eze.
Rice looked uncomfortable in the Florida heat as England struggled early on and fell behind to Andreas Schjelderup’s opener for Norway.
However, Jude Bellingham levelled shortly before the break before sealing victory in extra time to send England into a semi-final against Argentina on Wednesday.
Speaking after the match, Tuchel explained the extent of Rice’s condition and why he opted to withdraw one of his key players at the interval.
“We had some players struggling in the heat,” Tuchel said.
“Ezri Konsa was one of them with cramps and the hamstrings.
“Declan, we made a decision in half-time to become more offensive, to have a bit of an offensive shift.”
Rice withdrawal planned
The England manager admitted the substitution had been planned while his side were trailing and that Bellingham’s equaliser just before the break did not alter his thinking.
“I made the decision when we were 1-0 down and didn’t want to go back on the decision because of the equaliser,” he added.
Rice had already been managing a neural issue affecting his hamstring and lower back during the tournament, and the illness further complicated his preparations for the Norway clash.
Although he was fit enough to train on the eve of the quarter-final, Tuchel felt there was little chance of the midfielder completing the entire match if it went beyond 90 minutes.
“We had to take Elliot [Anderson] or Declan out and, knowing that Declan struggled after the last three days where he was most of the time in bed, I knew he cannot survive 90 minutes,” Tuchel said.
“There was a possibility that it goes 120, so I didn’t want to waste another change, so the decision was to take Declan out earlier than he needed to go out, just to save us another change later down the match.”
Rice has started five of England’s six matches at the 2026 World Cup, with the group-stage win over Panama the only game he has missed.
