Southgate confirms Rice will captain England

In his pre-match press conference, England manager Gareth Southgate has confirmed that former West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice will captain the Three Lions on Tuesday.

The former Republic of Ireland international will captain his country for the first time from the start against Belgium at Wembley Stadium as he earns his 50th England cap.

Harry Kane has returned to Germany to train with Bayern Munich after an injury has ruled him out of both tomorrow night’s encounter with Belgium as well as their defeat at home to Brazil on Saturday evening.

Kyle Walker captained from the start on Saturday with Harry Maguire and then John Stones and Jordan Henderson also shouldering the burden later on in the match.

Rice has become a fundamental part of Southgate’s England in the last half a decade or so with the 25-year-old becoming a crucial cog in the Arsenal team currently leading the Premier League after a £100 million move from West Ham last summer.

It is England’s final friendly before Southgate will pick his 23-man squad that will travel to Germany for UEFA EURO 2024 this summer.