Declan Rice 'honoured' to play with Harry Kane as he lifts lid on England captain's impact in World Cup camp

Published Jun. 23, 2026 7:46 a.m. ET

GOAL

Captain nears historic milestone

The England squad are preparing for another crucial group fixture following an entertaining

'It has been an honour'

Rice emphasised how fortunate the current generation of players feel to share a dressing room with such a

"I'm very fortunate. One, he's our captain, but two: how he leads by example every day, how he pushes in training. It is not a surprise to me how good he is just because of the goals he scores in training, what he's been doing at Bayern Munich, what he's been doing in an England shirt. It has been an honour to play with him. I'm very lucky that I get to play with a striker like him."

Squad targets maximum motivation

The Bayern forward has utilised his leadership to keep the squad focused and prevent complacency after their positive start. Rice revealed that Kane explicitly reminded the team of a recurring pattern where opening victories at Euro 2020, the 2022 World Cup, and Euro 2024 were all immediately followed by frustrating stalemates in their second fixtures.

He added: "We are just as motivated, if not more motivated to want to win. Harry spoke about it earlier: the last couple of tournaments, we've drawn the second game. We want to go in knowing we are full throttle, ready to go because we know what position that puts us in."