{"id":798605,"date":"2026-07-14T00:15:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/798605\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T00:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:15:11","slug":"declan-rice-winning-fitness-battle-to-start-for-england-against-argentina-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/798605\/","title":{"rendered":"Declan Rice winning fitness battle to start for England against Argentina | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Declan Rice is set to overcome illness and retain his place for England\u2019s World Cup<\/a> semi-final against Argentina on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The Arsenal midfielder was substituted at half-time of England\u2019s win over Norway<\/a> in the quarter-final, with Thomas Tuchel revealing that he had spent most of the previous three days in bed due to illness. But it is understood that Rice has been feeling much better after England returned to their base in Kansas City for the final time before departing for Atlanta on Tuesday and the 27-year-old is expected to start alongside Elliot Anderson in midfield against the reigning world champions.<\/p>\n

England also have fitness concerns over Ezri Konsa, who had to be substituted against Norway due to cramp, but the Aston Villa defender is expected to be in contention to start at right-back again. There is a chance that Tuchel will recall Reece James after the Chelsea captain came on as a second-half substitute against Norway, while Bukayo Saka could also start after impressing off the bench.<\/p>\n

Jordan Pickford, meanwhile, has said that England\u2019s players know they must keep their heads against Argentina and insisted they will not be distracted by the intense rivalry between the two countries. The semi-final in Atlanta will be the first time they have faced Argentina at the World Cup since 2002 in a fixture that is steeped in history. But the England goalkeeper believes not losing their cool could be the key to victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve seen throughout the tournament, you\u2019ve seen our desire to win titles, we\u2019ve not gotten into any scuffles or anything,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been very respectful within the game \u2013 if decisions go our way or if they don\u2019t go our way, we just reset, we go again, and we let the football do the talking. It just shows our mentality, we don\u2019t get wrapped up in things like that, we stay focused.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked whether he is looking forward to \u00adfacing Lionel Messi for the first time in his career, the Everton goalkeeper added: \u201cIt\u2019s great to finally come up against him \u2013 I watched him a lot as a kid. We all know how good Messi is but we also know how good Argentina are so we can\u2019t focus solely on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan Pickford: \u2018This is us against them and another great nation to play against.\u2019 Photograph: Charlie Riedel\/AP<\/p>\n

Authorities in Atlanta are on high alert ahead of Wednesday\u2019s semi-final with thousands of supporters from both countries expected at a stadium where many of the seats are unsegregated. Pickford acknowledged the significance of the game but believes it is crucial that England don\u2019t get caught up in the occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a game of football with two sets of passionate fans who are going to be at the game. That\u2019s what football does \u2013 it brings the fans and the nations together. We are two proud nations but the football will do the talking. Us and Argentina and Spain and France are the top four nations in the world in the rankings and we\u2019ve all got the stage to get to the final. This is us against them and another great nation to play against. What a game it\u2019s going to be and it\u2019s about us beating them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pickford was part of the England side that reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup<\/a> under Gareth Southgate and lost in the final of the European Championship in 2021 and 2024. He has yet to win any major silverware at club level but claimed that he has not started thinking about whether England can go all the way this year.<\/p>\n

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Declan Rice<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the dream but it\u2019s all about Wednesday,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are a very talented team and, regardless of the rivalry, I think it\u2019s about us being at our best to try and get through a final in the World Cup, that\u2019s what the challenge is.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2018, it was about connecting the nation together. Now we\u2019re in the semi-final again, we want to put smiles on our people\u2019s faces again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fifa has confirmed the appointment of Ismail Elfath as the referee for the game in Atlanta, with the American who officiates in MLS having previously taken charge of Norway\u2019s win over Brazil in the last 16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Declan Rice is set to overcome illness and retain his place for England\u2019s World Cup semi-final against Argentina…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":798606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-798605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=798605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/798606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=798605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=798605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}