Declan Rice
#4 · Midfielder · age 27
Tuchel's midfield anchor; second WC
96
WC26 rating
- Recent form
- 74
- Career peak
- 93
- League level
- 100
- Competition pedigree
- 98
- International pedigree
- 91
- Longevity
- 67
Independent rating — league strength (Opta-anchored) × competition tier × position-normalized output. Not affiliated with EA or FIFA.
Career by season
Source: transfermarkt · fetched 2026-05-29
Rice’s evolution under Arteta — from pure six to a six who arrives in the box for set pieces and breaks the lines with diagonal passes — has been quietly absorbed into the England system. He gives Tuchel the licence to push Bellingham and Eze high without exposing the back four, and his partnership with Stones in possession (Stones inverting into midfield from the right of a back three) is one of the structural ideas of this England team. If you had to pick one player without whom this tournament becomes much harder for England, it is him.
Strengths
- ball-winning in front of the back four
- press-resistant first touch
- set-piece arrivals at the far post
- leadership and on-field communication
Recent form
Played virtually every minute of Arsenal's 2025-26 season; named in the PFA Team of the Year.
Was born to a Sundayway Irish-republican-leaning family in Kingston upon Thames and played for the Republic of Ireland at three youth levels before switching to England in 2019 — the FAI lobbied hard to keep him.