Rice reveals he managed hamstring injury since Christmas amid 'obscene' 63-game season

Declan Rice has admitted he spent the second half of the season managing a hamstring injury, revealing for the first time that neural pain had been a persistent concern since January as he shouldered one of the heaviest workloads in European football.

The Arsenal and England midfielder was withdrawn during the second half of England’s 4-2 victory over Croatia at the 2026 World Cup, a decision he backed fully. “It was a smart decision. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time,” Rice told ITV. “Not a lot of people would have known that — it was all behind-the-scenes stuff.”

Rice played 63 games for club and country this season, logging 4,456 minutes for Arsenal — second only to goalkeeper David Raya — plus a further 540 minutes for England. He was a central figure as Arsenal claimed the Premier League title and reached the Champions League final.

Despite the precautionary substitution against Croatia, Rice said he is fit to start England’s second group game against Ghana in Boston on 23 June. “The last few days I felt really, really good,” he said, adding that the decision to come off before the final 20 minutes was calculated: “That last twenty is where you really feel your body going for it.”

Rice was candid about the demands placed on top-level players across a congested calendar. “It’s an obscene amount of games,” he said. “The schedule was crazy, but what can we do about it? You can’t sit and complain. We have to just get on with it for the moments like I had winning that Premier League.”

Thomas Tuchel, who made the call to substitute Rice, will be reassured by his midfielder’s assessment ahead of a pivotal fixture that could shape England’s path through the tournament.