While Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson saw their England World Cup dreams ended by France on Saturday night, Newcastle United will have been relieved to see their Qatar contingent escape uninjured ahead of the Premier League restart.
The England trio, Bruno Guimaraes, Fabian Schar and youngster Garang Kuol were the six players Newcastle sent to the World Cup, with all of them, bar Kuol, set to return to Tyneside following their recent tournament exits.
While Schar and Switzerland had their campaign ended by a rampant Portugal in the round of 16 6-1, England and Guimaraes' Brazil suffered agonising quarterfinal defeats to France and Croatia respectively.
READ MORE: Newcastle United to adopt flexibile transfer approach to January window
Australian youngster Garang Kuol, who will join Newcastle permanently in January, saw his and Australia's tournament ended by Argentina in the round of 16.
There's no question however that the international pain will be Eddie Howe and Newcastle's gain, as the Magpies look to restart their push for a Champions League place.
Newcastle return to competitive action on Wednesday, 21 December, when they host Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup's round of 16 at St James' Park.
Then, just five days later, they will renew their Premier League campaign on Boxing Day with a trip to the King Power Stadium.
Given how well the Magpies, who currently sit third in the table, finished the first part of their season, the fact all of their international players came through the World Cup unscathed will be a major boost.
Of course, no one will have wanted to see Newcastle's participation at the World Cup ended early, especially with how well liked amongst the Magpies fanbase the players they sent to Qatar are.
However, the reality is, Newcastle have their best chance of qualifying for a Champions League spot this term since the magical 2011/12 campaign, which saw them finish fifth.
They need all of their World Cup players fit and firing for the second half of the season.
While Kieran Trippier featured in all three of England's group games, he was left out for the knockout stages. Striker Callum Wilson made two group stage appearances but did not feature for England after their 3-0 win over Wales.
Nick Pope did not feature for England, while Fabian Schar made two appearances for Switzerland out in Qatar. And finally Bruno Guimaraes inexplicably played just 67 tournament minutes for Brazil in total.
Collectively, those appearances do not amount to masses of strain being put upon Howe's World Cup players. While they could be left out of the squad who will face Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup, there's every chance the quintet could start the Boxing Day game away against Leicester City.
READ NEXT
- Newcastle United's World Cup stars won't be rushed back into domestic action
- Newcastle bank early advantage over 'Big Six' rivals in Champions League race
- Dan Ashworth discusses new Newcastle strategy after previous experience with Alexis Mac Allister
- Five Newcastle United players ready to stake their claim in mini pre-season with places up for grabs
-
What to expect in January window after Riyadh transfer meeting
