Declan Rice has been back on the training pitch at England's World Cup base, and if the images are anything to go by, the sickness bug that kept him out for three days has lost the battle. Sky Sports, via CaughtOffside, reports Rice looked fit and available in the session — which, given what's coming on the schedule, is about the best news Gareth Southgate could have received this week.
Rice had been absent from training for three days with a sickness bug — not ideal timing when you're 90 minutes from a World Cup final. England's midfield is built around him: the press, the recovery runs, the ability to sit and screen when the game needs managing. Against Argentina, you need all of that, and then some.
For a spell, his availability for the semi-final was genuinely in doubt. That's not a small thing. England without Rice in this kind of game is a different proposition entirely.
According to Sky Sports, as reported by CaughtOffside, Rice was back out on the grass and — crucially — looked in good shape doing it. The word used was "absolutely fine." No official confirmation has come from England's medical staff or from Southgate himself, so this remains one source deep and visually assessed rather than medically cleared. Worth keeping that caveat close.
But training participation after three days out, with the semi-final still ahead? That's the trajectory you want.
England vs Argentina at a World Cup semi-final stage is the kind of fixture that writes its own mythology before a ball is kicked. Rice anchors the midfield structure that lets the attacking players — Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, the rest — operate with freedom. Without him, Southgate has to reshuffle in a way that changes the team's shape and its balance under pressure.
He didn't look like a man who'd spent three days in bed. That'll do for now.
Declan Rice has been back on the training pitch at England's World Cup base, and if the images are anything to go by, the sickness bug that kept him out for three days has lost the battle.
Sources
CaughtOffside
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“Stays on World Cup — different angle, same beat.”
Lionel Scaloni stood at the microphone and said, essentially, that this is a football match. He is correct. He is also, in the way that only this fixture can make a man, completely wrong.
“Stays on World Cup — different angle, same beat.”
Lionel Scaloni stood at the microphone and said, essentially, that this is a football match. He is correct. He is also, in the way that only this fixture can make a man, completely wrong.
