Chelsea star Cole Palmer has been challenged to channel the pain of his England World Cup snub into a positive, after being one of the most high-profile omissions from Thomas Tuchel's 26-man finals group. The 24-year-old was left out alongside the likes of Phil Foden, Harry Maguire and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Palmer, named England's player of the year in 2024 after scoring in the European Championship final defeat by Spain, has rarely been available for selection since Tuchel took charge. His club form has also declined during an injury-disrupted campaign at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea's interim head coach Calum McFarlane backed Palmer to recover quickly. "I think in life and in football, you need to take every setback as a positive," McFarlane said. "There's going to be lots of them - moments like this. And if you have the right mindset, you can turn it into a positive."
McFarlane declined to comment on Tuchel's decision, stating: "I don't want to comment on that - it's not got anything to do with me. The England manager has made a decision so it's best to speak to him. We have full belief in Cole and we will be relying on him on Sunday."
Palmer is not the only Chelsea player missing out, with Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah also omitted. Elsewhere, Joao Pedro, Andrey Santos and Romeo Lavia were left out of Brazil and Belgium squads respectively.
