Rice vows to put his body on the line for England despite lower back concern

Declan Rice has pledged to give everything for England at the World Cup despite admitting he has been carrying a lower back issue since Christmas, which prompted his substitution in the 72nd minute of the Three Lions’ 4-2 Group Stage victory over Croatia in Dallas.

The Arsenal midfielder’s early exit raised immediate fitness concerns, particularly given that the appearance was his 63rd of the season across club and country. Rice, however, was emphatic that he has no intention of sitting out, insisting he wants to start every remaining group game — beginning with Tuesday’s match against Ghana in Boston.

“You get on with it,” Rice told ITV. “Obviously, it’s an obscene amount of games. The schedule is 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 winning the Premier League. You know you’d put your body on the line to be here always and to play.”

Rice acknowledged the physical toll of an extraordinary season but framed it as a price worth paying. “I’ve been blessed and fortunate enough to have played in as many games as I can so far in my career — an insane amount of games for my age,” he said. “I just love playing football. I love being durable. I love having that rhythm of playing three games a week at club.”

He also reflected on the consistency required to perform at the highest level over such a gruelling schedule. “You always hope that the best version of you can turn up. But it’s like being a tennis player or a golfer sometimes — sometimes you have your game, sometimes you don’t. You’re constantly trying to find your best levels and I’ve managed to do that for a lot of periods of this season. I want to bring that into the World Cup.”

Rice is not the only Arsenal player managing his body carefully in the United States. Teammate Bukayo Saka is also being monitored due to a persistent Achilles problem, highlighting the broader strain that a packed domestic and international calendar has placed on England’s key players.

The lower back complaint does carry a specific risk — reduced mobility and potential knock-on effects on his hamstrings — and England’s medical staff will need to weigh that carefully ahead of the Ghana fixture. Rice, though, has made his own position clear: he will not be volunteering to rest.