Declan Rice in bed for three days before the Norway match – Thomas Tuchel

England boss Thomas Tuchel spent most of the three days of their World Cup quarter-final against Norway in pain before Dylan Rice met him in the World Cup quarter-finals.

Rice started 2-1 victory in Norway But he appeared to be struggling in the intense heat at Miami Stadium before being replaced by Arsenal team-mate Eberechi Eze after the break.

Norway’s Andreas Schjeldrup scored as England lost 1-0. Jude Bellingham equalized before the break and added extra time to seal the win for the Three Lions.

The win sets up a semi-final against Argentina, who beat Switzerland, on Wednesday 15 July at 20:00. It will be shown live across the BBC.

“We had players who struggled in the heat,” Tuchel said. “Ezri Konsa was one of them with cramps and muscle spasms.

“Declan, we decided at halftime to make a little bit of an offensive change, to be more offensive.

“I made the decision when we were 1-0 down and I didn’t want to go back on the decision because of the draw.”

Rice was doubtful. Before the game for Norway, he suffered from nerve problems in the ligaments and lower back, and the pain worsened.

Although he practiced on the eve of the quarter finals, he was able to go out on a break.

Tuchel added: “We had to take Elliott (Anderson) or Declan off (and) knowing that Declan had to fight after the last three days when he was mostly in bed, I knew he wouldn’t be able to survive 90 minutes.”

“He had a chance to go 120 (minutes), so I didn’t want to waste another change, so the decision was to take Declan off earlier than he needed to, just to save another change after the game.”

Rice, who helped Arsenal to the Premier League title last season, has started five of England’s six games at the 2026 World Cup, with the group game against Panama the only game he missed.