Foxborough, June 23 (IANS) England head coach Thomas Tuchel has hailed Declan Rice as “one of the very best midfielders in the world” ahead of their crucial Group stage clash against Ghana on Wednesday (IST).

England produced one of their most complete performances under Tuchel in Dallas and registered an impressive 4-2 victory over Croatia in their opening FIFA World Cup 2026 Group L match, with Rice’s tireless work-rate and intelligent distribution helping the side dominate large spells of the contest and providing the foundation for the team’s attacking players to thrive.

“Declan is one of the very best midfielders in the world,” Tuchel said in the pre-match press conference.

England’s opening victory over Croatia was widely regarded as their most fluent display since Tuchel took charge in March 2025. The Three Lions stepped up a gear after halftime, with the German coach encouraging his players to attack with greater freedom.

“I’m very happy and a very lucky coach because they arrived at the World Cup with this mindset. I didn’t have to get them into that mindset. Now the difficulty is to keep them in that way,” Tuchel said.

“A very famous conductor once said he doesn’t want to disturb the music, and he doesn’t want to disturb the musicians. That’s basically what we try to do in the coaching team. Just encourage them to play with freedom, especially in the attacking positions,” he added.

Rice echoed his manager’s sentiments and described England’s second-half display against Croatia as a benchmark for the team going forward.

“That second-half performance was probably one of the best 45 minutes of football we’ve played under Thomas. We believe that if we can do that from the opening minute, we can beat any opponent in the World Cup,” Rice said.

The midfielder also praised captain Harry Kane, calling himself fortunate to play alongside one of the world’s leading strikers.

Looking ahead to the challenge of maintaining momentum at the World Cup, Tuchel expressed confidence that his squad possesses the experience and mentality to cope with expectations.

“I feel that we have so many winners and so many players who are experienced to cope with that,” he said.

“One of our key principles is to behave, train, and play in a manner that it’s always 0-0. No matter what, it’s always 0-0. The next pass counts, the next action counts, and the next tackle is important. Mistakes are part of this beautiful game. It’s about how you react to them and how you help each other.”

England will face Ghana, seeking a second successive win that will confirm their berth in the round of 32.

–IANS

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