Rice jokes about sunburn as England battle World Cup heat in Florida

Declan Rice could smile about the sunburn, but England’s World Cup build-up in Florida underlined a far sharper reality: elite football is being reworked around extreme heat. The Arsenal midfielder, 27, was left visibly pink after an England photoshoot with World Cup sponsors and broadcasters, and his mother quickly told him off for getting burned.

England have spent the run-up to the tournament trying to harden themselves for conditions they do not normally face in Europe. Thomas Tuchel has admitted his squad are not used to the heat and humidity expected across North America, and England have turned to Team GB experts and other specialists to help players cope with the climate in West Palm Beach and beyond.

That preparation has gone well beyond a standard training camp. Players were due to fly to Miami for a 10-day hot-weather acclimatisation block before heading into the tournament, with recovery, hydration and session planning all adjusted to reduce the strain of training in oppressive humidity. Rice’s photoshoot mishap became a talking point because it was easy to see, but England’s staff have treated the broader issue as a performance problem as much as a comfort issue.

The conditions were impossible to ignore again in Orlando, where England’s final warm-up against Costa Rica was delayed by an hour because of weather. Once the match got under way, Rice opened the scoring after 10 minutes and Anthony Gordon and Ollie Watkins added further goals in a 3-0 win. It was a useful reminder that England are now building for tournaments in which heat, storm delays and recovery windows can matter as much as tactics.

Rice later said England had adapted to the heat, but the wider picture remains unsettled. With the World Cup opener against Croatia set for 17 June 2026, England’s experience in Florida has raised the same question confronting every team heading to the United States, Mexico and Canada: how much risk should athletes be asked to absorb as football keeps chasing bigger summer tournaments in harsher conditions?