Chelsea's leading World Cup performers for England | News | Official Site

This year, Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah continue a tradition of Blues players representing the Three Lions at a World Cup that began with Roy Bentley at England's first tournament in 1950. Here, we take a look at some of Chelsea's best performers on the global stage...

Roy Bentley was the first player to captain Chelsea to the league title and is the joint-fifth highest goalscorer in our history with 150 goals from his 367 appearances. As a deep-lying centre forward, he was our top scorer in each of his eight seasons at the club.

Bentley served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and signed for Chelsea in January 1948, earning his first England call-up a year later. The forward would help his national side reach the World Cup when he scored the winning goal against Scotland in qualifying, and played in the infamous 1-0 defeat to the USA during England's first appearance at the World Cup.

Glenn Hoddle called Chelsea's Graeme Le Saux up as part of his 22-man squad for World Cup 1998 in France. Trusted by the head coach, the Jersey-born left-back was picked to start in both group stage wins over Tunisia and Colombia, and the 2-1 defeat to Romania.

Finishing second in the group meant that England would face an Argentina side packed with stars, and Le Saux was replaced by Gareth Southgate on 71 minutes as England's ten men held out through normal time and extra time for 2-2, but were ultimately eliminated from the competition on penalties.

John Terry was named in the FIFA 23-man squad of the tournament after the 2006 World Cup alongside fellow defenders Roberto Ayala, Lilian Thuram, Philipp Lahm, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta and Ricardo Carvalho, despite the Three Lions' exit at the hands of Portugal in the quarter-final.

The central defender played in all three of England's group games in 2010, and also started in the controversial 4-1 defeat to Germany in the Round of 16.

Frank Lampard - 2006, 2010, 2014

Lampard was at his peak during the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, and was desperately unlucky not to have been awarded a goal when the ball clearly crossed the line during the 4-1 defeat to Germany in 2010.

Just like at club level, Lampard enjoyed a distinguished international career with 106 caps and 29 goals for his country, but England famously underachieved during that period of time.

At the age of 36, the legendary midfielder was called up to Roy Hodgson's 2014 England squad and was also named as vice-captain. Lampard wore the armband when he started in the 0-0 draw against Costa Rica and subsequently retired from international football following England's premature group stage exit.

Chelsea's Joe Cole played alongside his club team-mates Terry and Lampard at both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. His finest moment came in a 2-2 draw with Sweden in the 2006 group stage as he chested the ball down and let fly with an audacious strike into the top corner, a goal that will live long in the memories of England supporters.

After being mainly a starter under head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson in 2006, Cole was more on the periphery under Capello in 2010, making substitute appearances in each of a 1-0 win against Slovenia and the knockout defeat to Germany.

Ashley Cole was an England mainstay, appearing at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cups, but only the latter tournament coincided with his time at Chelsea.

And although the aforementioned 4-1 defeat to Germany was a disappointment, Cole shone in England's 0-0 draw with Algeria in the group stage, earning the Player of the Match award for his performance that day.

Gary Cahill was named in Hodgson's 2014 squad, playing all three of the group stage matches, and then became part of the new era when Gareth Southgate took the reins in 2016.

By the time the 2018 World Cup came around, Cahill was 33, but was named in the 23-man squad that travelled to Russia and reached the semi-final of the competition.

Cobham graduate Ruben Loftus-Cheek represented England at various youth levels before earning his first senior cap in 2017. Part of our Premier League-winning sides in 2014/15 and 2016/17, and the team that lifted the Europa League in 2018/19, the London-born player was also part of Southgate's group in Russia at the 2018 World Cup.

The midfielder has 11 total England caps to his name and earned four of those at the World Cup, starting in all three group matches against Tunisia, Panama and Belgium, and also coming on as a substitute in the third-place playoff defeat to the Red Devils.

In more recent times, Mason Mount – another Cobham graduate – was selected by Southgate for the winter World Cup in Qatar in 2022. The midfielder featured in all three of England's group games and came on as a 79th-minute substitute against France in the quarter-final.

France had just regained the lead at that point, and just five minutes later, he won a penalty when he was pushed in the back by Theo Hernandez inside the box. Having already converted a spot-kick earlier in the game, Harry Kane stepped up once more, but this time, he blazed over the bar, and Les Bleus held out to take the 2-1 win.

Raheem Sterling was also brought on alongside Blues team-mate Mount in the 79th minute of England's 2-1 defeat to France in the 2022 quarter-final, but his big moment came earlier on at that tournament in Qatar.

The forward scored and assisted in a 6-1 victory over Iran in England's first group stage game, wowing the supporters with an acrobatic volley, his first goal at a World Cup.