A quartet of Arsenal players joined the England squad after the Champions League final, with Declan Rice immediately taking over as one of the leaders.
England manager Thomas Tuchel and vice-captain Declan Rice
Declan Rice has been named England’s vice-captain for the World Cup and is attracting attention as a future captain.
England manager Thomas Tuchel said Rice was in a “special group” of untouchables, along with fellow starter Harry Kane. Arsenal midfielder Rice has taken on additional responsibility and has joined England’s coaching group, captained by Kane.
But Tuchel clearly considers Rice his second-in-command and strongest mentor – even if he admits it, it’s not entirely clear whether he’s told Rice publicly. Asked who would be his vice-captain, Tuchel said: “I think Declan would be my vice-captain.”
And when asked if Rice knew about it, Tuchel smiled and said: “That’s a good question. I was just thinking about it, whether it’s official or not.”
“But I think I told him this when Harry wasn’t in camp with me. I think it was against Wales. We started with Ollie Watkins and I think Declan was the captain. That’s when I spoke to him.
It was a friendly against Wales last year, when Rice captained the team, and it will be a big boost for the midfielder. With Kane turning 33 next month, Tuchel is also thinking about his future captaincy, with Rice at the top of his list.
Arsenal’s quartet joined England’s training base in West Palm Beach after their friendly win against New Zealand in Tampa.
Declan Rice named England captain in Harry Kane’s absence
Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke are currently in the squad, but Tuchel said it remains to be seen how much they will play in Wednesday’s next friendly against Costa Rica.
Tuchel added: “It will be different against Costa Rica. He will get more minutes because it is part of the build-up and then against Croatia it will be six days or so. We need players who will play 60 or 70 minutes.”
“We don’t know about the Arsenal players. Let’s see how they come back. Let’s practice for three days and see how it goes. We have another game the next day behind closed doors to manage all the time.”
“Let’s say someone played 70 minutes against Costa Rica and another player only played 20 minutes. That’s not enough either, so some players may only play 20 or 30 minutes and then play again the next day.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Upgrade your World Cup TV setup with Sky Glass ‘designed for soccer’
From £4.50
sky
Get the deal here
Sky is marking the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a 20% discount on its entire range of glass TVs. Until June 17, shoppers can upgrade to a Sky smart TV ‘designed for football’ from £4.50 a month when taken with a Sky TV and Netflix package.
