Declan Rice, the captain of the England national team, started the 2026 World Cup match against France in an ideal way, leading the 'Three Lions' to a fiery start in the early minutes, making his mark with a goal and an assist in less than 18 minutes.

England are facing France on Sunday morning in the third-place match of the current edition.

The Arsenal midfielder needed only three minutes to open the scoring against the French national team, taking advantage of his team's strong start, before returning in the 18th minute to send a precise cross that his teammate Ezri Konsa converted into the second goal, making Rice the biggest contributor to England's early lead.

Rice's achievements did not stop at the two goals; he became the first player active in the English Premier League to score and assist for England during the current World Cup edition, after Premier League players' goals were absent from England's tournament journey until the France match.

The England captain also entered the history books through another door, becoming the second Arsenal player to start a major tournament match for England wearing the captain's armband, whether in the World Cup or the European Championship, after legend Tony Adams, who led the 'Three Lions' at Euro 1996.

Rice's early goal was not ordinary either, as he scored the fastest goal for England in an official match since Luke Shaw's goal against Italy after less than two minutes in the Euro 2020 final, bringing to mind one of the fastest starts by the England national team in major tournaments.