2026 World Cup: Thomas Tuchel confirms England vice-captain as Three Lions boss explains importance of team spirit

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has been confirmed as England's vice-captain for the 2026 World Cup.

Rice had an excellent 2025-26 campaign for Arsenal, playing a vital role in the Gunners winning the Premier League, while he is a key player for England, representing his country on 72 occasions, scoring six goals and registering six assists.

England head coach Thomas Tuchel has refused to reveal any details when it comes to his leadership group, but it has been confirmed that Rice will wear the captain's armband for the Three Lions when skipper Harry Kane is not on the field.

"I never talk about the leadership group," Tuchel says. "Declan is my vice-captain. We had this talk [with the squad] when Harry was not in camp with us."

Tuchel also spoke of the team spirit that will be required if the Three Lions are to be successful at this summer's tournament.

2026 World Cup: Rice confirmed as England's vice-captain

There was a host of criticism when Tuchel confirmed his squad for the World Cup, with the likes of Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Harry Maguire being left out.

However, the German has insisted that the overall group will always be more important than individuals, with a strong spirit required if success is to be secured this summer.

"I think the players want to impress and they want to impress me. That's why we selected this group," added Tuchel.

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"I feel they do it in a very complicit way. That's the spirit that we want to have and the spirit that we will need throughout the tournament.

Tuchel explains importance of team spirit ahead of England's battle for World Cup success

"We don't want to have guys on the bench who are thinking 'he is doing bad, so I may have a chance'. So I don't think that they think that they play against each other, but they are happy to push. I think they can put it into perspective.

"They know that they haven't played together in some of them since November. Some of them come from holiday, restart the engines. Put it into perspective - everything is fine."

Rice has skippered England on two previous occasions, but he is behind Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka at Arsenal when it comes to the captaincy.

The 27-year-old is one of Tuchel's certain starters at the World Cup, although he did not feature in Saturday's friendly against New Zealand, having been given extra time off due to his involvement for Arsenal in the Champions League final.