Declan Rice has pipped Jude Bellingham to the England vice-captaincy for the World Cup.
Harry Kane donned the armband as the Three Lions beat New Zealand in a friendly on Saturday night, but Jude Bellingham inherited it when Thomas Tuchel made eleven half-time substitutions.
But the Real Madrid midfielder will not serve as Kane’s understudy once the tournament gets underway, with the late-arriving Rice preferred by Tuchel.
Rice joined the England camp on Saturday, arriving late alongside his Arsenal team-mates Eberchi Eze, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke after they were handed extra time off following the Champions League final.
Rice is a member of Tuchel’s leadership group, and has won the armband before.
While vice-captain is not an official designation at the tournament, Tuchel confirmed after the New Zealand match that Rice would take Kane’s place if need be.
“Whether it is an official thing or not, we had this talk when Harry was not in camp with us,” the German explained.
“When Harry missed a game against Wales [in October] we started with Ollie Watkins and Declan was captain. That was where I told him.”
Tuchel continued, assuring reporters that Bellingham is an important member of his squad despite this snub.
“[Bellingham] is one of the starters but there are 14, 15 potential starters,” he elaborated.
“And then there’s a special group and then there is a leadership group and then there are guys who finish matches for us and get the energy right and have more of a role of setting the standards and accepting their roles for challenging.
“And these roles can always change but in my head there are 15, 14 proper starters and Jude is one of them.”
