Tuchel: Rice subbed at half-time due to illness; England beat Norway 2-1 to reach semi-finals

England midfielder Declan Rice only managed 45 minutes of the World Cup quarter-final win over Norway in Miami

By Ryan Taylor 02:40, 12 Jul 2026

Thomas Tuchel has revealed that Declan Rice spent the past few days in bed due to illness.

The England midfielder has been suffering with a bug but was able to play the first 45 minutes of England's 2-1 World Cup quarter-final victory over Norway in Miami. He was withdrawn at the break, and Tuchel confirmed that Rice was one of several players who struggled in the heat and humidity in Florida.

Tuchel said:

"We made life for ourselves complicated. We had some players struggling with the heat. Ezri Konsa was one of them—cramps in his hamstring—and with Declan, we made the decision to go more offensive at half-time.

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"It was a bit of an offensive shift. I made the decision at 1-0 down and didn't want to go back on the decision. Even after the equaliser, I thought this was the right signal to the team—to take up higher positions and more connections when Norway defends in a deep block.

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"It's about being closer to your opponent's box, so we put in Ebs [Eberechi Eze] and Bukayo [Saka], and that meant we had to take Dec or Elliot [Anderson] out.

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"Knowing that Declan struggles after the last three days—he was most of the time in bed—I knew he could not survive the 90 minutes. I also knew there was the possibility of 120, so I didn't want to waste another change. I made the decision to take Declan out to avoid another change further on."

Training Schedule Reduced

Tuchel also confirmed that England—despite flying back to Kansas City—will significantly reduce their training schedule as they prepare to enter the final week of the World Cup.

Explaining ahead of Wednesday's semi-final, he said:

"They have to, no doubt about it. Our level of training will now go down. The next few days are crucial. We have another.

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"This victory will help a lot. We have a top facility to recover at the highest level."

Positive Fitness News

There was positive news on the fitness front, however, as Reece James was back on the pitch for the first time since the 0-0 draw with Ghana. Bukayo Saka also excelled from the bench.

Jordan Henderson took part in England's pre-match warm-up, laying off forward players for shots at goal. He kitted up and was named on the bench, though was never realistically going to feature following surgery on his wrist.

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