Chelsea news: How Blues players are performing at the World Cup

It has not been a particularly memorable World Cup for Chelsea's players in terms of either involvement or performances, but it does mean new manager Xabi Alonso will have a larger group available for most of pre-season.

Cole Palmer, Joao Pedro and more than 10 other Chelsea players were not selected by their national teams following the club's disappointing campaign last season.

Ten Blues players did receive World Cup call-ups, although only five have featured for their countries so far.

Reece James has started twice for England, against Croatia and Ghana, without reaching his best form. He suffered a minor hamstring injury against Ghana but returned to the squad as an unused substitute against DR Congo. He is expected to be in contention to face Mexico in the last 16 in the early hours of Monday morning.

Pedro Neto has started all four of Portugal's matches, providing an assist against DR Congo in the opening game. Portugal are through to the last 16 after beating Croatia, but neither Neto nor his team have been convincing.

Moises Caicedo started and completed all four of Ecuador's matches before their exit to Mexico. He was named captain in place of striker Enner Valencia for the crucial final Group E match against Germany and produced an impressive performance in a 2-1 victory.

Enzo Fernandez has started and completed two matches for Argentina in a deeper midfield role. He was then among the players rested against Jordan after qualification for the knockout stages had already been secured. Argentina will expect to progress to the last 16 when they face Cape Verde at 23:00 BST on Friday.

Nicolas Jackson started twice and made two substitute appearances for Senegal. He got an assist in the 2-1 last-32 defeat by Norway but did not make a significant impact overall. Bayern Munich have confirmed his return to Chelsea, reflecting a situation that was already widely known, and the striker is expected back for pre-season under manager Xabi Alonso.

Malo Gusto has made three substitute appearances, against Iraq, Norway and Sweden, totalling just 25 minutes playing time.

Mamadou Sarr, Jorrel Hato and Kendry Paez did not feature for Senegal, the Netherlands and Ecuador before their respective exits, while Mike Penders and Trevoh Chalobah are so far unused by the United States and England.

The players who were knocked out in the last 32 are likely to be back training by the time Chelsea's tour of Australasia begins later this month.