May 10 2026

Crystal Palace

With Thomas Tuchel finalising his 26-man squad for the United States, Canada and Mexico, the Eagles have more skin in the game than most supporters might realise, writes Ben Leyland.

The FIFA World Cup begins on 11 June. For Crystal Palace fans watching the tournament from living rooms and pub screens across south London, it will feel like a different kind of summer. Two of the players most associated with the club's best recent years, Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze, depart for North America wearing someone else's club colours.

Adam Wharton, very much still an Eagle, goes with his place in the squad far from settled. And Dean Henderson, quietly excellent between the sticks at Selhurst Park, is as close to a certainty as England's second goalkeeper as any player in the squad.

It is, depending on your perspective, a testament to how thoroughly Palace have operated as a talent pipeline for national teams, or a sobering reminder of how quickly the game redistributes its best assets.

Wharton's Place on the Plane Is Not Guaranteed

For supporters who watched Wharton mature from a largely unknown arrival into one of the most composed midfielders in the Premier League, the current uncertainty around his World Cup involvement is difficult to sit with. He remains in contention, but only just.

Wharton withdrew from Thomas Tuchel's England squad after picking up a knock in his second-half cameo during the Three Lions' 1-1 draw with Uruguay in March, with his absence from the subsequent Japan friendly doing little to help his cause. Tony Cascarino was blunt on talkSPORT, saying Wharton will "do well to make the squad," adding that while the midfielder had handled his Uruguay cameo "really well," he was not "close to the full squad."

The competition in that position is unforgiving. Elliot Anderson has played six of England's last seven games and drawn consistent public praise from Tuchel, while James Garner's England debut against Uruguay was widely applauded, with Tuchel himself describing the Everton man as England's "Mini Valverde." Wharton is in a race, and the March injury did him no favours whatsoever at the worst possible moment.

He is 22 years old, which softens the long-term concern, but Wharton faces stiff competition from Kobbie Mainoo, Morgan Rogers, and Cole Palmer for the remaining midfield berths beyond the established starters.

According to analysis from Freebets.com, which publishes a widely used independent guide to the best sites for betting on the 2026 World Cup and licensed bookmaker reviews, an analyst noted: "Wharton's ability to control tempo in a back four under pressure was genuinely impressive when he came on against Uruguay. He covered the Valverde threat effectively when it mattered. But Tuchel has shown repeatedly that he selects based on what he has seen most recently, and Wharton has not been visible in that recent window."

BBC Sport's Phil McNulty includes Wharton in his ideal 26-man squad, writing that the Crystal Palace midfielder has "class" and "lots of it, especially in his passing range," though he questions whether Tuchel shares that view. That creative quality has been on show for Palace in European competition this season, including a free-kick delivery from Wharton that set up the opening goal in their Conference League victory over Zrinjski Mostar in February.

Guehi and Eze: Former Palace Stars' Influence on England

Two players who left Selhurst Park last summer carry Palace DNA into the World Cup whether the club benefits from it directly or not.

Guehi, who moved to Manchester City in January for a reported £20 million, scored his first England goal in a 5-0 qualifying win over Serbia in September 2025 and is considered by most analysts to be one of the first names in Tuchel's defensive line-up.

The defender who captained Palace to the 2025 FA Cup final, and who lifted the Community Shield weeks later, is now poised to represent England at a World Cup as a Man City player. For Holmesdale.net's long-term readers, who watched Guehi organise Palace's backline across more than 180 appearances, the sentiment will be complicated but the pride unmistakable.

ESPN's squad prediction confirms Guehi as a near-certainty, noting that he "made the step up from Palace to City in January and has slotted into Pep Guardiola's side with ease" and describing him as someone who "will be a starter come the summer" despite missing England's March friendlies through injury.

Eze, who moved to Arsenal in August 2025 for £67.5 million after scoring the only goal in the FA Cup final win over Manchester City, notched his first England goal in a World Cup qualifying win over Latvia in March 2025 and earned six votes in Goal.com's ideal England squad selections from senior editorial staff. He arrives at the tournament in different circumstances: a player whose role at Arsenal has been more limited than anticipated, with Morgan Rogers and Jude Bellingham ahead of him for regular minutes in Tuchel's preferred system.

His World Cup involvement may hinge on whether Tuchel values his ability to unlock tight low-block defences from a wide position. At his best, Eze is capable of that. Whether he will get the opportunity to demonstrate it in June and July is an open question.

Henderson's Quiet Consistency Could Be England's Insurance

Henderson, widely considered England's back-up goalkeeper behind Jordan Pickford, is named in Sports Mole's squad prediction, with the question of whether he could mount a challenge for the starting shirt left open. It is, in truth, unlikely. Pickford is settled and trusted. But a Palace goalkeeper travelling to a World Cup as part of Tuchel's final 26 is not a small thing, and Henderson's form at club level has been the bedrock of that selection.

ESPN's analysis notes that Henderson was among the 11 players Tuchel rested ahead of the Uruguay friendly alongside established names like Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane, essentially confirming his status as a guaranteed selection.

Three Players, Three Different Stories

The World Cup will tell three distinct stories for supporters tracking the Eagles' influence on England's summer. Guehi goes as a near-certain starter, the defensive cornerstone Tuchel has built around. Eze goes, if selected, with something to prove after a mixed first season at Arsenal. Wharton remains in the conversation, but he is waiting to see whether form, fitness and Tuchel’s final calculations work in his favour before England’s squad is confirmed ahead of FIFA’s 1 June deadline.

For a club that reached its first European final this season, that supplied the winning goal in the previous FA Cup final, and that continues to develop players at a level that forces England managers to take notice, the World Cup is not a distraction from Crystal Palace's own story. It is, in many ways, the continuation of it.