England to make late call on Rice for World Cup semi-final

England will make a late decision on whether Declan Rice is fit to start the World Cup semi-final against Argentina on Wednesday. There is optimism that the Arsenal midfielder can shake off the effects of illness to play.

Rice suffered from a sickness bug in the lead-up to Saturday's quarter-final victory over Norway in Miami and was substituted at half-time. Head coach Thomas Tuchel said afterwards that Rice had spent three days in bed before the match, which England won 2-1 after extra time.

It is understood Rice has still not recovered fully from the illness, which he picked up in Mexico, where England beat the co-hosts 3-2 in the last 16. However, his condition has improved markedly over the past 48 hours. Rice is almost certain to rule himself fit for the semi-final given the enormity of the occasion, but given the severity of the illness, England medics are set to make a late call on his availability.

In addition to his recovery from the sickness bug, Rice has also been carrying a neural problem for several months that affects his lower back and hamstring. The midfielder, who has 78 caps, has started all but one of England's World Cup games so far, missing the 2-0 group-stage win over Panama because an injury flared up.

American referee appointed for semi-final

FIFA has announced that American referee Ismail Elfath will take charge of Wednesday's semi-final. The 44-year-old officiated group games between Japan and the Netherlands and Uruguay versus Spain in the tournament, as well as Norway's last-16 win over five-time winners Brazil.

Elfath has issued six yellow cards and shown Uruguay midfielder Agustin Canobbio a straight red card for a high challenge on Spain defender Pau Cubarsi. After he was dismissed, Canobbio confronted the referee and grabbed his shirt.

Elfath also officiated at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and was the fourth official for the final between France and Argentina. In a group game four years ago, Elfath shook the hand of Vincent Aboubakar before sending off the Cameroon striker for taking his shirt off while celebrating the winner against Brazil.

Elfath, who has officiated in Major League Soccer since 2012 and has twice won MLS referee of the year, will be assisted by fellow Americans Corey Parker and Kyle Atkins, while Italian Maurizio Mariani is the fourth official. Originally from Morocco, Elfath moved to America as an 18-year-old after winning a US government-backed diversity visa lottery.

English and Argentine referees ruled out of final

Meanwhile, England's Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor have been ruled out of contention to referee the World Cup final because of FIFA regulations around conflict of interest. Referees cannot take charge of matches involving their own country, but English and Argentine officials also cannot referee games involving the two nations because of their political rivalry, in part because of the Falklands conflict in 1982.

Argentine referee Facundo Tello is out of contention for the same reason, with all three officials also ineligible for the third-place play-off as it is guaranteed to involve one of the teams. The regulations also ruled Taylor out of refereeing the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France.