Chelsea would have wanted to go into the international break with three points behind them but that wasn’t the case after a poor 45 minutes against Brentford.
Now, that is behind them some players will have the chance to have a break with their national squads, while some have a chance to rectify that performance with hard work on the training ground.
Who has been called up for international duty? Who is staying in Cobham?
England
England have the chance to put their World Cup semi-final heartbreak behind them as their Nations League campaign gets underway with a difficult opening fixture against reigning champions Spain.
Cole Palmer returned to the squad after missing out on the World Cup, however has withdrawn today. Chelsea's new wonderkid Morgan Rogers is the sole representative, who has also been rewarded for his impressive early-season form.
Reece James misses out through injury, while the form of Levi Colwill, Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck was not enough to earn them a place in the squad.
Date | Fixture |
|---|---|
Saturday 26 September, 19:45 | England vs Spain |
Tuesday 29 September, 19:45 | Czechia vs England |
Saturday 3 October, 17:00 | Croatia vs England |
Tuesday 6 October, 19:45 | England vs Czechia |
Argentina
Emi Martinez and Valentin Barco will return home as the World Cup finalists play a series of friendlies to say goodbye to Lionel Messi, who is retiring from international football.
Barco will be searching for minutes with his national team against some low-ranked opposition, Bolivia, Burkina Faso and Benin.
Belgium
Romeo Lavia and Mike Penders are selected in the new Belgium coach Mark van Bommel as they face off against a tricky Nations League campaign. They will go up against France in a double header, Italy and Turkey.
Alonso will be hoping Lavia will return home injury free.
Brazil
The Samba stars will welcome Estevão Willian into their squad for a round-the-world friendly trip, with Brazil set to face Australia twice before travelling to India for another international fixture.
While the exciting youngster racks up the air miles, João Pedro will remain at home after withdrawing from the squad due to injury.
France
Maxence Lacroix is the sole name in Zinedine Zidane’s French squad as he will be looking to give the attack a foundation and freedom to excel. Games against Belgium, Turkey and Italy will prove a tough test.
Malo Gusto and Wesley Fofana are excluded from that squad as both have been poor this season.
Netherlands
Jorrel Hato is the sole Dutch player in Chelsea’s squad and will represent the Oranje in Xavi Hernández’s first squad. The Netherlands will begin their campaign against rivals Germany before facing Serbia twice and travelling to Greece.
Portugal
Pedro Neto is included, while Geovanny Quenda is excluded for the Nations League that sees Cristiano Ronaldo return. They play Wales, Norway home and away and Denmark.
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