Declan Rice will be calling out his famous catchphrase this World Cup.
Back in April, Rice was caught on camera saying: “It’s not over yet” after Arsenal looked set to lose the title to Manchester City. But Rice’s defiant message proved to be a turning point for Arsenal as they won their first title in 22 years, and he says England will have the same mindset.
The hard work will begin now as Thomas Tuchel’s team prepare for the final tournament against the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Atlanta, but Rice insisted, “Anyone who thinks it will be easy is wrong.” However, despite topping the group, England’s performance has been far from convincing and they need a change of pace if they want to advance and survive a possible knock-out spot against Mexico City and the quarter-finals against Brazil.
Asked if that was the mentality needed, Rice said: “100 percent. It’s going to be a really tough game, considering who our next opponent is. And considering the possible routes that could happen, it’s going to be a really, really tough game all the way to the final.”
“Like you said there, there’s definitely going to be moments like that. There’s going to be moments where you’re going to have a setback in the game. And there’s going to be moments where you’re going to have to get through some tough times in the game.”
“This is the World Cup. We have to give 100 percent for sure because the best teams remain, the best players remain and there can be surprises in the World Cup.”
Rice admits the “it’s not over yet” message may have been a big mistake, but it’s now a timely reminder when things don’t go as planned.
“It could have gone either way! Then I would live forever!” he smiled. “Fortunately, as crazy as it was how it happened, it went the way I wanted it to be perceived.
“Between now and the rest of the tournament there will be some setbacks, some shocks and we need to be ready for everything that comes our way.
“It’s hard to explain. You[the media]understand that, but when a neutral person looks at the quality of the England team and the quality of the team as a whole, they say, ‘Well, why can’t we get four or five points?’
“But in terms of football, Ghana were incredibly well-coached, even the other day in Panama. The coach said they were in the same position as Wales and Serbia and weren’t a terrible opponent. They had really high quality and the passing of their play was really good. It’s up to us to break through the low blocks and have patience. But the real key is whether we can score early in the game against the low blocks. I think that’s when we’ll start to see what our team is like.
“It’s tough, but this is the World Cup. The team is here to win. We understand the heat, we understand how the team is playing against us, and I think it’s anything to win.”
England manager Thomas Tuchel watches Declan Rice training (Image: 2026 The FA)
Rice is ready to change his mentality under the pressure of the upcoming finals, but the four Arsenal players in the squad – himself, Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze – mean there are winners who have embraced the ‘it’s not over yet’ mentality.
Rice added: “I think the mentality has probably changed. In terms of the first block, which is the group stage, we break the tournament into smaller blocks and then the knockouts start. We need to focus on the matches in those two blocks. It’s going to be very tough against really strong opponents and teams who want to beat England. We’ll be very motivated to get through and keep going.”
“To be honest, there are probably more Arsenal players here than ever before. I think there’s a really good connection between us when we’re all on the pitch in terms of our play, the Arsenal players and the connection on the pitch. We understand each other very well, but it feels like we’re all at a top club here. Everyone has a different way of playing, but on the pitch we understand each other in a way.”
“So far I don’t think we’ve had to defend as much as we probably should have in the knockout stages. But we’ve tried to attack and threaten the team, even if we didn’t score as many goals as we wanted in the second and third games.
“I feel like that connection will continue, not just between me and the Arsenal players, but between everyone. I think we’ll continue to see the best in everyone now that we’re getting closer to the knockouts.”
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