One year after Chelsea were crowned as club world champions in the United States, only a handful of their players will have the chance to repeat that achievement with their countries.
Only eight players who represented Chelsea in 2025-26 have been selected for their national teams, fewer than seven other Premier League sides.
The omissions that would have sounded most surprising at the start of the year are Cole Palmer, Joao Pedro, and Estevao, whose hopes have been dashed by a mix of underwhelming form, high competition for places, and injury. The chances of Andrey Santos, Levi Colwill, Trevoh Chalobah, and Alejandro Garnacho were always more remote, and none have been able to win themselves a place.
Reece James, after missing the 2022 World Cup through injury, has been selected for England by Thomas Tuchel. Jorrel Hato (Netherlands), Pedro Neto (Portugal), Marc Cucurella (Spain), Malo Gusto (France), and Mamadou Sarr (Senegal) will also be at their first World Cups. Enzo Fernandez will defend the world title he helped Argentina win in 2022, while Moises Caicedo returns for Ecuador after featuring in their group-stage campaign in 2022.
Mike Penders (Belgium), Kendry Paez (Ecuador), and Nicolas Jackson (Senegal) will also travel after spending the season on loan.
Focusing on current players only, though, Chelsea’s eight representatives fall short of their 12 in Qatar in 2022 and 11 in Russia in 2018.
The club world champions would surely have hoped for better representation — but other than a select few who have been undone by either injury or sheer competition, the Chelsea players left at home cannot have many arguments. This will be a profound disappointment to them — but for their club, and incoming manager Xabi Alonso, it could be a real boost.
Alonso’s predecessors Liam Rosenior and Enzo Maresca both referenced the impact of Chelsea’s hectic schedule last season. Rosenior encouraged his players to “get some sun” in a rare free midweek in February, highlighting the near-incessant football they had played over the past 18 months, partly due to their participation in the Club World Cup, and Chelsea’s heavy rotation under Enzo Maresca was aimed at preventing fatigue in the squad.
Fernandez and Caicedo are often poster boys for the intensity of the football calendar, considering their near-constant roles for club and country and frequent cross-continental travel. Palmer is another, with this being his first free summer since 2022.
From a physical recovery standpoint, a summer off for players like Palmer or Colwill (only recently returned from an anterior cruciate ligament injury) is undoubtedly positive for the London club. Chelsea have five pre-season friendlies in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia, and while they will not match the competitive intensity of a tournament, they should keep players’ match-fitness ticking over.
Palmer has not had a summer off since 2022 (Photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
But the biggest beneficiary will be Alonso. Of the five permanent head coaches that owners BlueCo have appointed since taking over the club in the summer of 2022, the only one to enjoy a pre-season uninterrupted by a tournament has been Mauricio Pochettino in 2023. Graham Potter and Liam Rosenior were both mid-season appointments, and when Enzo Maresca took charge in 2024, several of his players were at the Euros.
Part of the rationale behind Alonso’s appointment is that his style of football should not require a massive shift in principles from the coaches before him — but there will be subtle adaptation, and having far more of his squad available will help him put his ideas across more quickly. Enough players are remaining behind in most positions — bar full-back, with Cucurella, Hato, Gusto, and James away — to run sessions similar to what would be possible with a full squad. It is not as though Alonso only has the fringe players to pass his ideas on to, either. Colwill’s presence is particularly helpful: after spending a summer working closely with Alonso, he should be able to help organise his team-mates in games. Not having James, Caicedo, or Fernandez is a shame in that sense.
This is also an opportunity for Alonso to understand his squad as much as the other way around.
Colwill has recently returned from injury (Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)
His principles have remained broadly similar throughout his coaching career, but the exact formation has varied. At Real Madrid, he was known to deviate from the 3-4-2-1 system that brought so much success at Bayer Leverkusen, sometimes using a back four. Having so many of his players available for detailed work throughout the summer will help him gauge what iteration of his football best suits Chelsea’s personnel.
Without European football next season, not all the players on Chelsea’s books are likely to have major roles to play, so it is likely some will need to be loaned or sold. For example, the returning Jackson, incoming Emmanuel Emegha, Joao Pedro, Marc Guiu and Liam Delap are all competing for the No 9 role; only Jackson is at the World Cup and Alonso will have ample opportunity to evaluate those options.
One frustration is that Alonso would likely benefit the most from spending time with many of the players who will be away. Fernandez and Cucurella’s Chelsea futures are uncertain, and it is not ideal, though fairly inevitable, that decisions will have to be postponed until after their return. A choice also needs to be made on whether to reintegrate Jackson; as The Athletic has reported, Chelsea are open to that, but Alonso would presumably want the chance to work with the striker first. Penders will also be arriving into the Chelsea fold after his loan at Strasbourg, but Alonso will have to wait until he returns from Belgium’s World Cup camp to judge how close he is to challenging Sanchez.
Well-rested players and plenty of time on the training ground are luxuries Alonso’s recent predecessors have not had. Alonso’s task — which Pochettino could not manage — is to convert those into a strong start to the season in August.
