A number of Chelsea players will be taking a close look at the draw for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The draw for the upcoming tournament takes place on Friday evening, with nations from all corners of the globe set to find out their fates.
Whilst qualifying has not quite concluded as of yet, enough nations have booked their tickets and will find out who they are set to tackle in the group stages. A number of Chelsea players will also be taking a deep interest in proceedings having helped their countries progress to the competition itself. As a matter of fact, a vast amount of Thomas Tuchel's current squad will hope to do enough between now and the winter to book their own places to Qatar. Some already have their places all but confirmed with their performances for both the Blues and their respective national teams over the past year, whilst others have a little bit more work to do to be able to say they will be on the plane.
On the England front, Chelsea could be set to have a moderate contingent with a number of first-team players, loanees and former stars set to be involved in Gareth Southgate's final side. Ben Chilwell, Conor Gallagher, Reece James and Mason Mount are expected to make a big impact in the squad with former players Marcu Guehi and Tammy Abraham outside shots for potential inclusions. Elsewhere, experienced campaigners, Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso and N'Golo Kante will be proudly representing Spain and France respectively.
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In-form goalkeeper Edouard Mendy alongside Christian Pulisic and the forgotten Baba Rahman, who currently applies his trade in the Championship at strugglers Reading FC, will be making rare appearances in the competition with Senegal, USA and Ghana respectively after all three nations had to battle through the qualifying process. The mix of veteran and young players making the cut for the Qatar based tournament which will have it's draw done later on Friday makes this unusual winter competition this year an exciting prospect from a Blues perspective.
The current World and European Champions could be set to improve with some signings if the new owners are to address the current transfer embargo on time. Added on to this, there are a few loanees like Billy Gilmour and Ethan Amapdu who could also make the final cut for the tournament but this is dependent on who progresses through the knockouts with Wales vs Scotland a possibility.
Take a look at the full list of players who are in contention for the tournament below:
Edouard Mendy, Ben Chilwell, Conor Gallagher, Reece James, Mason Mount, N'Golo Kante, Kai Havertz, Antonio Rudiger, Timo Werner, Baba Rahman, Cesar Azpilicueta, Christian Pulisic, *Billy Gilmour, *Ethan Ampadu.
