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.