June 17 marks the start of the England national team at the 2026 World Cup with a confrontation with Croatia. From now until then, Thomas Tuchel will have more time to choose the optimal squad.
Up to now, only 3 people have a definite ticket to be called up to the national team: captain striker Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), goalkeeper Jordan Pickford (Everton) and midfielder Declan Rice (Arsenal).
Rice is a model of stability under Mikel Arteta and is the main driving force in Arsenal's Premier League title race. Tuchel hopes this midfielder can perform similarly in the England national team to win the first major title for the "Three Lions" since 1966.
In an era where players can take on many positions, Rice emerged as one of the best. The English midfielder can play box-to-box (specialty) but in other roles such as defense, attack, attacking midfielder, sometimes playing full-back, everything is excellently completed.
Historically, the England team often possessed midfielders who were capable of choosing the right time to run and score very well. After Bryan Robson and David Platt in the 1980s and 1990s were Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes in the early 21st century. Successive coaches could not solve the problem of how to arrange this trio in the same starting lineup.
However, that problem can be solved for Thomas Tuchel if you look at Declan Rice's performance in Arsenal's victory over Bournemouth. Although only a midfielder, Rice is contributing to the number of goals no less than the "Gunners"' attacking stars. Four goals from the beginning of the season help him only be 1 goal behind Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyokeres in Arsenal's scoring list this season. Besides, 3 assists help Rice rank only behind Trossard (4).
Rice is doing very well when attacking high and he ranks 4th in Arsenal's list in terms of total shots on target (27) and shots on target (10).
The 26-year-old midfielder is also the person who created the second most scoring chances of Arsenal with 32 times, only after Bukayo Saka (37). The English star created the most clear chances (9). These are golden scoring opportunities, this number is more than any other teammate.
Rice's number of 142 passes that broke through the defense (passes that were put into the gap between the opponent's defenders and brought the home team closer to the goal) was also the highest, only after Martin Zubimendi (133).
Declan Rice's superior attacking ability does not mean he neglects the defensive task. 33 tackles are the 2nd highest statistic after Jurrien Timber (46') and 18 interceptions are only behind Zubimendi (24'). Rice has also regained ball possession for the team in the midfield area 50 times and 96 times throughout the field, the highest among Arsenal players.
With being able to operate freely, Rice is very effective in open play but he also plays an important role for Arsenal from set pieces.
One of Arsenal's strengths in recent seasons is efficiency in set pieces. As one of the operators of corner kicks and main kicks, Rice's passing ability plays a very important role.
Arsenal leads the list of goals scored from set pieces in the Premier League this season (17, 14 if not penalties), the most in the Premier League. Rice has created 12 chances from set pieces, ranking 7th in the league but the most for an Arsenal player.
Rice has created a good combination with Elliot Anderson of Nottingham Forest in the England national team squad. Anderson will play a role as a defensive foundation to help Rice attack higher. Anderson also created more than 1 chance than Rice from free kicks this season, giving Tuchel more choices. Free kicks could be the deciding factor at the 2026 World Cup.
Rice also showed stable form this season. He has played 27 matches in the Premier League, Champions League and League Cup, including 22 starts. He overcame a knee injury to play in the win against Bournemouth and showed no negative signs of form. In that confrontation, Rice scored 2 goals in a domestic league match for the first time in his career.
With Arsenal participating in 4 very harsh tournaments, Tuchel's only concern is Rice's fitness after the season ends. If Arsenal wins major tournaments at the end of the season, Rice's fatigue may disappear thanks to that excitement.
