The England manager says Rice is part of his core group, with Arsenal’s four internationals now in camp before the final World Cup warm-up match against Costa Rica.
Declan Rice has been named England vice-captain by Thomas Tuchel, with the Arsenal midfielder now only behind Harry Kane in the national team’s leadership group.
The decision is another significant marker of Rice’s standing under the England manager, who views him as part of a small group of essential players in his World Cup plans.
Kane remains captain and a guaranteed starter, but Tuchel has now confirmed that Rice is his No 2, even if he appeared unsure whether the role had been formally communicated.
When asked who will be his vice-captain, Tuchel said: “Declan is.”
When asked if Rice knows that, Tuchel smiled: “That’s a good question. I was thinking about it, whether it is an official thing or not.
“But I think we had this talk when Harry was not in camp with us. We started with Ollie Watkins and Declan was captain. That was where I told him.”
That came in a friendly against Wales last year, when Rice captained England. With Kane turning 33 next month, Tuchel is also looking beyond the immediate tournament, and Rice appears to be at the front of the queue when England eventually need a new captain.
The news comes as Arsenal’s England internationals have finally joined up with the squad at their training base in West Palm Beach.
Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke have arrived alongside Rice, giving Tuchel a full squad before England’s final pre-World Cup friendly against Costa Rica on Wednesday evening.
England were flat in their opening warm-up match, scraping a 1-0 win over New Zealand on Saturday, and the Arsenal contingent now have a tight turnaround before being considered for involvement against Costa Rica.
Tuchel has said he is not yet certain how much the four Arsenal players will feature.
Saka and Rice are expected to be starters at the World Cup, while Madueke is likely to provide cover and rotation behind Saka. Eze is also expected to begin as a rotation option, although strong performances could give him a chance to push for a place in the starting side.
England begin their World Cup group campaign against Croatia on June 17, before facing Ghana on June 23 and Panama on June 27.
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