The Arsenal midfielder backed England for future success after ending an emotional World Cup with victory over France.
Declan Rice has backed England to turn their World Cup progress into silverware, insisting the squad has “more than enough to win” following their bronze-medal finish.
The Arsenal midfielder played his part as Thomas Tuchel’s England side closed out the tournament with a chaotic 6-4 win over France in the third-place play-off.
England went into the play-off still reeling from their 2-1 semi-final loss to Argentina, a match they had led until the final minutes before it slipped away.
Rice admitted the emotions were still raw, but he took pride in how England responded just three days later.
“I think the emotions have been so high since the other night,” Rice said.
“Still hard to digest it, to think about it. I think it’s going to become a bit more apparent, what we’ve done this tournament over the next few weeks when you actually come away from football, you sit down, you process everything.”
England stormed into a four-goal lead against France, only to see their opponents threaten a comeback in a frantic second half.
Rice acknowledged it was far from a perfect performance, but felt England’s attacking intent and determination were a fitting way to end their campaign.
“I think we can be proud of the way we played, the way we was motivated out there to want to win this match,” he said.
“Especially in that heat. It was really tough out there. But I think at times we played really well tonight.”
The win gave England their first World Cup medal since 1966 and marked their best finish at a tournament held away from home.
But Rice made it clear that third place is not where this squad’s ambitions end.
“We want more. We want more,” he said.
“Like we’ve been striving for this for so long. It’s it is an achievement, but um we know we’re good enough to to win things, and that’s what we want.”
There have been questions around Tuchel since England’s semi-final collapse, even though the German coach took the team to the final weekend of his first major tournament in charge.
When asked if England now have a strong platform to attack the European Championship under Tuchel, Rice didn’t hesitate in his answer.
“For sure. 100%. I don’t know why there’s question marks around that,” he said.
“I understand after the other night the question marks. Everyone has an opinion these days, you know, everyone has an opinion.
“But no one really knows what it’s like to be in our shoes, you know.”
Rice didn’t shy away from the mistakes that cost England a place in the final.
He pointed to the fine margins that separated England’s solid defensive showings against Mexico and Norway from the late heartbreak against Argentina.
“Games are won and lost in both boxes and ultimately against Argentina,” Rice said.
“You know, we didn’t defend the box well enough in the end and we lost the game.”
The Arsenal midfielder nevertheless believes the squad can use the experience as another stage in its development rather than allowing the semi-final defeat to define the campaign.
The 27-year-old spoke about the pride of representing England and the support the players felt throughout the tournament.
“There’s no bigger proud moment than pulling on a shirt for England at a World Cup,” he said.
“There’s no feeling that comes near it.”
Rice now heads back to Arsenal after another very long campaign for club and country, with England’s players set for a break before they regroup for the next round of internationals.
His verdict on the tournament was clear: England missed out on the trophy, but he remains convinced the squad and manager have what it takes to challenge again.
“This group has more than enough to win,” Rice said.
“And I’m sure over the next few years, I hope and I believe that we can.”