LONDON (AP) — Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka “wanted desperately" to play in this international break, England coach Thomas Tuchel said Monday after the Arsenal stars joined a list of players from the Premier League leader citing injury issues.
Ten Arsenal players in the past week either did not join their national team or left camp early as coach Mikel Arteta's team chases three trophies, including a first English title in 22 years.
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England's manager Thomas Tuchel during a press conference of England's national soccer team in London, England, Monday, March 30, 2026. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP, Pool)
England's Ben White, left, scores his side's opening goal during the international friendly soccer match between England and Uruguay in London, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Sweden's Viktor Gyokeres, top, and Ukraine's goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin challenge for the ball during a World Cup playoff semifinal soccer match between Ukraine and Sweden in Valencia, Spain, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
England's manager Thomas Tuchel during a press conference of England's national soccer team in London, England, Monday, March 30, 2026. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP, Pool)
“The risk for making it worse was just way too big,” Tuchel said of fitness assessments for Rice and Saka ahead of hosting Japan on Tuesday in a warmup game for the World Cup.
Midfielder Rice and winger Saka are likely starters for England at the World Cup and also key to Arsenal’s quest for a first Premier League title under Arteta after three straight runner-up finishes.
“They were both clearly in discomfort when we did the medical assessment, so it made absolutely no sense that they stayed,” said Tuchel, adding that both “wanted desperately to be involved.”
Other Arsenal players who left national-team camps over the weekend after playing include Spain midfielder Martin Zubimendi and Ecuador defender Piero Hincapié.
Central defenders William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães did not travel with France and Brazil, respectively, for those teams’ warmup game Friday in the United States. France won 2-1.
Arsenal's intense April schedule starts Saturday with the FA Cup quarterfinals at Southampton. The club then plays at Sporting Lisbon three days later in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.
Arsenal has seven games left in the Premier League, and sits nine points ahead of Manchester City which has a game extra to play. It's next league game is at home against Bournemouth on April 11.
Two Arsenal players are involved in decisive World Cup qualifying playoffs Tuesday. Viktor Gyökeres leads Sweden’s attack against Poland, days after his hat trick in a 3-1 win over Ukraine, and defender Riccardo Calafiori's Italy faces Bosnia-Herzegovina away.
England's manager Thomas Tuchel during a press conference of England's national soccer team in London, England, Monday, March 30, 2026. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP, Pool)
England's Ben White, left, scores his side's opening goal during the international friendly soccer match between England and Uruguay in London, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Sweden's Viktor Gyokeres, top, and Ukraine's goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin challenge for the ball during a World Cup playoff semifinal soccer match between Ukraine and Sweden in Valencia, Spain, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
England's manager Thomas Tuchel during a press conference of England's national soccer team in London, England, Monday, March 30, 2026. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP, Pool)
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is rising Tuesday as it catches up with others around the world that climbed the day before, when President Donald Trump said negotiations were “proceeding nicely” with Iran on ending their war.
The S&P 500 rose 0.8% after trading resumed following Monday’s holiday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 25 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:50 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% higher. All three indexes are near all-time highs.
The gains came even though fighting continued in the region, and the U.S. military said it carried out “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and boats placing mines. Markets have rallied in the past on hopes for a coming end to the war with Iran, only to see the conflict drag on.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 3.8% to $99.80, but that reclaimed only some of its 7.1% plunge from Monday. The price for a barrel of U.S crude oil, meanwhile, fell 3% to $93.74.
Oil prices have been at the center of the action for financial markets since the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February. The ensuing war has closed the Strait of Hormuz to most oil tankers, keeping crude pent up in the Persian Gulf instead of flowing to customers worldwide. That in turn has driven up oil’s price and sent a wave of painful inflation around the world.
Hopes for a deal to improve the flow of oil helped lift stocks of companies with big fuel bills. United Airlines rose 6.6%, and cruise operator Carnival steamed 3.5% higher.
The lower oil prices also helped pull yields down in the U.S. bond market, which eased the pressure on Wall Street. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.49% from 4.56% late Friday.
It’s a respite following recent gains for yields in bond markets worldwide, which threatened to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. High yields have already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level since last summer, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the artificial-intelligence data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.
Big technology stocks also continued their big runs. Micron Technology leaped 17.7% to top $880 and was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500 after analysts at UBS led by Timothy Arcuri raised their 12-month price target for the stock to $1,625 from $535. They're forecasting continued strength in demand for computer memory, and Micron's stock has already tripled so far this year.
That helped offset a drop of 11.6% for AutoZone, which reported slightly weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its profit topped expectations. CEO Phil Daniele said performance for the retailer’s stores in Brazil and Mexico was below its plan.
Most big U.S. companies have been reporting both profit and revenue for the start of 2026 above what analysts expected. The strong performances have helped vault U.S. stocks to records, even with all the uncertainty around oil prices and the war with Iran.
U.S. households have been feeling discouraged about the economy because of accelerating inflation, and a report on Tuesday said consumer confidence edged downward in May, though the number was not as bad as economists expected. It followed a report on Friday that said sentiment among U.S. consumers hit its lowest level on record.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.5% as it also caught up with other markets following a Monday closure for a holiday.
London’s FTSE 100 added 0.5% even though British petroleum giant BP fell 5.1% there. BP ousted its chairman over what it called serious concerns related to “important governance standards, oversight and conduct.”
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.2% from its all-time high set the day before.
AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
Specialist Glenn Carell, left, and trader Robert Charmak work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 25, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 25, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index, seen through the glass wall of an office building Monday, May 25, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
