Declan Rice Overcomes Stomach Bug Scare to Start England’s World Cup Semi-Final Against Argentina

Declan Rice spent three days unable to leave his bed with a stomach bug in the build-up to England’s World Cup quarter-final against Norway. Ten days on, the Arsenal midfielder is fit and expected to start the biggest match of his career.

Sky Sports News reports that Rice has fully recovered and trained without restriction on Monday in Kansas City, the first complete session for Thomas Tuchel’s squad after the extra-time win over Norway. There are no remaining doubts he will start when England face Argentina in Wednesday’s semi-final at Atlanta Stadium, with kickoff at 8pm BST.

Rice’s role in this England squad makes his fitness especially significant. Tuchel named him vice-captain for the tournament, and he remains one of the first names on the team sheet whenever available. The 27-year-old joined Arsenal from West Ham in a club-record £105m deal, bringing an end to a decade at West Ham in which he rose from academy player to club captain across 245 first-team appearances before his move to the Emirates Stadium.

The illness struck after England’s last-16 win in Mexico City ten days earlier. Tuchel said the bug left Rice confined to his bed for three days heading into the Norway match, and FA doctors limited him to 45 minutes in Miami as a precaution. The heat and humidity there made conditions feel close to 44 degrees Celsius, adding risk for a player who had barely trained the week before kickoff. Rice looked drained walking past reporters toward the team bus after that extra-time win.

That Mexico City match was itself a battle. England won 3-2 at the Azteca Stadium against the co-hosts after Jarrell Quansah was sent off in the 54th minute for a reckless tackle on Jesus Gallardo, confirmed by a VAR review. Quansah was later found to have breached FIFA’s serious foul play rules and banned for two matches, ruling him out of the Norway quarter-final and the Argentina semi-final alike. England finishing that game with ten men, then needing extra time to beat Norway four days later, explains why fitness and squad depth have dominated the build-up to Wednesday’s match as much as tactics have.

A Gruelling Night in Miami

The match itself pushed England to their limit. Andreas Schjelderup put Norway ahead with a cross-shot Jordan Pickford could not keep out in the 36th minute, and it took a stoppage-time finish from Jude Bellingham to drag Tuchel’s side level before extra time even began. Bellingham struck again in the 93rd minute, converting after Orjan Nyland spilled a long-range effort from substitute Morgan Rogers, to complete a 2-1 win that sent England into a fourth World Cup semi-final in their history.

Norway had chances to add to their lead before Bellingham’s leveller. Alexander Sorloth fired narrowly over in the 39th minute, then squandered a two-on-one break four minutes later by failing to find Erling Haaland with the ball. Norway also had what looked to be a second goal ruled out shortly after half-time, when Torbjorn Heggem’s finish was disallowed for a foul by Haaland on Elliot Anderson in the build-up.

Norway continued to threaten deep into the second half. Kristoffer Ajer’s close-range header cannoned off the crossbar in the 76th minute, and Bukayo Saka’s dangerous cross in the 87th found no England forward to turn it home. England were still searching for a winner with three minutes of normal time to play, before the match had even reached extra time, a detail that helps explain how draining the eventual 120 minutes proved for a squad already missing key personnel.

Those two Bellingham goals took him to six for the tournament, level with Harry Kane and one behind Haaland. Tuchel was blunt about the performance afterward. “We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today,” he said. “The result is fantastic, we’re in the last four. It’s amazing. I’m not happy with the performance. It’s the quality of our game. It’s about quality, we need to play better.”

Bellingham, asked about his manager’s criticism, offered a short response: “Yeah, well. Whatever. Whatever. It’s difficult out there. It’s a tough shift. All the players are putting in a tough shift.” Kane took a more measured view, saying: “It still feels like there’s a part of him that knows we can do better, which in a way is a good thing. If we’re in the semi-finals of a World Cup and can improve still, then we can only take that as a positive.”

O’Reilly’s Own Scare

Rice was not the only player facing a fitness check in the aftermath. Nico O’Reilly picked up a hamstring problem in the Norway match and gestured to the bench asking to be substituted in the second half. He was replaced by Djed Spence just before extra time began.

Sky Sports News understands O’Reilly has not suffered any major strain and is expected to be available for selection against Argentina. He spoke to reporters on Monday ahead of the game, unable to hide his excitement at reaching this stage of the tournament. “It’s crazy, an unbelievable feeling. I can’t wait for the game,” O’Reilly said. “Not a lot of people get to that position [of a semi-final] – I’m gonna relish it and take it all in. I’ve always dreamt of this.”

He also reflected on how far his career has come in a short space of time. “I did an interview three years ago, and I said I wanted to be in the World Cup squad, and the Manchester City team and I’ve achieved those two things.” That promise, made years before he had established himself at club or country, is now something O’Reilly gets to live out at a World Cup semi-final against the reigning champions.

Spence Seizes His Chance

O’Reilly’s injury was not the only story to emerge from his absence. Djed Spence, who came on to replace him just before extra time, produced one of the most eye-catching cameos of the tournament so far. The Tottenham full-back won a penalty that was later overturned by VAR, made an aggressive interception deep in Norway’s third, and finished the match with as many touches in the opposition box as Harry Kane, having arrived only in the 86th minute.

Only John Stones, who played the full 120 minutes, made more clearances than Spence against Norway. That combination of defensive discipline and attacking threat has led some inside the camp to view him as the best natural one-on-one defender available to Tuchel, a factor that gives the manager a genuine alternative if O’Reilly’s fitness becomes a doubt again in the tournament’s closing stretch. For now, O’Reilly’s own recovery means Tuchel retains the choice between the two, rather than being forced into it by injury.

The Physical Cost of Extra Time

The win over Norway took a physical toll that stretched well past Rice and O’Reilly. A number of England players suffered cramp and extreme fatigue as the match wore on, and the FA’s medics and physios have run an intensive recovery programme in the two days that followed.

Harry Kane, Elliot Anderson, Marc Guehi and John Stones all played the full 120 minutes against Norway. Guehi had missed several training sessions before that game with a hamstring problem of his own, while Stones had played only 35 minutes across the entire tournament before that point, making his 120-minute outing against Norway a considerable jump in workload.

Tuchel is now expected to have close to a full squad to choose from for the semi-final. The only certain absentees are the suspended Jarrell Quansah and midfielder Jordan Henderson, who remains out with a broken wrist.

One More Session Before Atlanta

Tuchel has a single training session left in Kansas City to settle his tactics and starting eleven before England travel to face Lionel Messi and Argentina. Getting Rice and O’Reilly back fit marks a turnaround from the hours immediately after the Norway win, when Rice could barely make it to the team bus and O’Reilly needed treatment for a hamstring that looked capable of ruling him out entirely.

England have not reached a World Cup final in 60 years. Wednesday’s semi-final offers the closest chance in six decades, and it arrives with a camp in far better shape physically than it looked 48 hours ago. Between the recovery programme, the extra training session and the players who fought through 120 minutes of Miami heat, Tuchel’s group has given itself close to the squad it wanted heading into the biggest match of the tournament so far.

O’Reilly’s description of relishing a moment he could barely have imagined three years ago captures a squad that has pushed through cramp, illness and fatigue to arrive one win away from a first World Cup final in 60 years. The winner in Atlanta advances to Sunday’s final to meet either France or Spain, who play the tournament’s other semi-final at Dallas Stadium a day earlier. Whether the recovery work of the past 48 hours counts for anything against Messi and Argentina will be decided on Wednesday night.

WRITTEN BY

Jarrod

Jarrod Partridge is the Founder of Futbol Chronicle and an accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every match report, player profile, and tactical analysis he writes.

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