What happened to Declan Rice? England midfielder suddenly leaves game vs. Norway at halftime with nagging injury
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England were considered one of the favorites to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup ahead of the tournament thanks to the wealth of talent all across the squad, and they have proven why during the competition itself, reaching the quarterfinals.
En route to the final eight, the Three Lions have had to manage the fitness of a number of important players, including Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice.
The 27-year-old has been one of the best midfielders in the Premier League since joining the London club from neighbors West Ham, and has established himself as a regular workhorse for England in the process. Thus, any absence for Rice from the national team is a notable occurrence, and one that begs questions as to why he is not on the pitch.
The Sporting News explains why Rice was brought off at halftime of their quarterfinal game against Norway, and what he has been dealing with which could require further treatment once the tournament is over.
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What happened to Declan Rice vs. Norway?
England midfielder Declan Rice was hauled at halftime of England's World Cup quarterfinal match against Norway.
With Rice brought off, Thomas Tuchel replaced him in midfield with Eberechi Eze.
Rice has been dealing with extreme pain in his hamstring for the last six months. However, the pain is caused by a nerve issue. According to Rice himself as well as Tuchel, the pain is due to a sciatica nerve issue, while his hamstring is structurally intact.
"I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time," Rice told reporters after the group stage win over Croatia. "Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff, but it was a smart decision."
MORE: Meet Andreas Schjelderup, who scored for Norway vs. England
Who replaced Declan Rice?
Rice's Arsenal teammate Eberechi Eze came on to replace him at halftime of the Norway match.
The change is a significant one, because the two players are not similar in style. While Rice is much more assured in possession and stringent with his positioning, Eze is a more attack-minded midfielder who takes risks on the ball to greater reward.
England do not have a No. 8 of Rice's talent available on the roster to replace him, other than Elliot Anderson who is already deployed in midfield, starting next to Rice from the beginning.
The result was plain to see, as Norway gained control of the match after halftime with Rice off the field.
Declan Rice sciatica pain
Neural pain is different from a traditional muscular injury that results from damage to the tissue.
Instead, nerve pain can stem from a variety of different reasons. It can come from a nerve being pinched,
“What it sounds like Rice may have is what we call neurogenic pain, where the nerve is getting snagged or irritated outside the spinal column,” said James Vickers, a consultant physiotherapist at Marylebone Health Group, to The Athletic.
Usually, this kind of injury results from inactivity, but other things like tight muscles, scar tissue, or other abnormalities can result in this kind of pain.
And that pain can be excruciating. "I asked him very late and he said 'I can do it for the team, but I am in terrible pain.'" Thomas Tuchel said after the DR Congo group stage match.
"When Declan tells you that he is in terrible pain, then you know he cannot take it anymore, so he was grateful that we took him off. He just said after the game it's not an issue, he will recover, so there is no injury. He was just in pain so I hope he is right. It's more nerve pain."
Unfortunately, there isn't any regular treatment method other than rest to resolve this kind of issue, unless there are structural repairs that can be made through some kind of intervention. It is possible — likely, even — that Rice could miss time to begin the coming season for Arsenal, potentially even a significant amount of time to allow his issue to resolve.
Declan Rice age
Declan Rice is 27 years old during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and will turn 28 in January.
Usually, this is not the kind of age that would result in nerve damage or pain.
However, the extreme number of minutes Rice has played over the past season or more has taken a toll. He racked up 4,128 minutes across all competitions in the 2024/25 club campaign, and then tacked on 4,456 minutes across all competitions in 2025/26 when Arsenal won the Premier League title.
And that doesn't even include national team duty, where he has appeared in all but 19 of England's last 97 games since debuting in 2019, and playing the full 90 minutes in many of them.
Rice himself says that modern football requires "an obscene amount of games" when discussing his injury.