‘I made the decision’ - Tuchel reveals reason for substituting Rice at half time

Despite his illness, Rice started the match but was visibly struggling in the intense heat at Miami Stadium and was substituted at halftime.

England fell behind to an early goal from Norway's Andreas Schjelderup before Jude Bellingham levelled the score just before the interval. 

Bellingham then secured the 2-1 win for the Three Lions with a decisive goal in extra time to send his team to the semi final.

After the game, Tuchel revealed the reason for Rice’s substitution at half time, with the England boss claiming it was a tactical shift.

Regarding the substitution, the England boss said: "With Declan, we decided at half-time to become more offensive, to have a bit of an offensive shift. 

“I made the decision when we were 1-0 down and didn't want to go back on the decision because of the equaliser."

Rice's participation had already been in doubt due to a neural issue affecting his hamstring and lower back, which was compounded by the illness. Although he trained the day before the game, he was withdrawn at the break.

Tuchel added: "We had to take Elliott [Anderson] or Declan out. Knowing that Declan struggled after the last three days where he was most of the time in bed, I knew he could not survive 90 minutes."

"There was a possibility that it goes 120 [minutes], so I didn't want to waste another change. The decision was to take Declan out earlier than he needed to go out, just to save us another change later down the match."

Rice, a key member of the Arsenal side that won last season's Premier League title, has started five of England's six matches at the 2026 World Cup, only missing the group stage fixture against Panama.