Both the European Championships and the Copa America will kick off at the same time across June and July. It will see an exodus of Premier League players looking to turn out for their international teams in the hope of crowning glory.
Chelsea’s highly sought after stars are some of the most high profile players on the planet. With an action packed set of fixtures this spring in both the Premier League and cup competitions, the best of the Blues will be looking to book their place for their respective international sides.
But who stands the best chance of lifting silverware this summer among Chelsea’s ranks?
Homegrown hopefuls
Gareth Southgate has named a number of Chelsea players for inclusion in England’s squad for the March international break. Mason Mount, Ben Chilwell and Reece James will all have a part to play in World Cup qualifying fixtures against San Marino, Albania and Poland.
Already capped players left out of the squad include forward men Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who will be casting a watchful eye over the qualifiers as they hope to surge forward in form to make the grade for this summer’s Euro squad.
Blues boss Thomas Tuchel has provided some insight into Abraham’s situation with an injury update on the London-born striker. Both Abraham and Hudson-Odoi as academy graduates have seen increasing pressure from German arrivals Kai Havertz and Timo Werner.
German trio backed by Löw
Despite shaky starts to their Chelsea careers, Germany coach Joachim Löw has continued to place his faith in former Bundesliga stalwarts Kai Havertz and Timo Werner. Alongside Antonio Rüdiger, Löw has named both Chelsea attacking men in his squad for Germany’s March internationals against Iceland, Romania and North Macedonia.
Germany are currently being backed with decently priced odds to go all the way this summer. A number of betting sites in Australia among others are offering high odds of around 9/1 (10.0) on Germany to win the competition.
French contingent have upper hand
N’Golo Kante and Oliver Giroud were integral to France’s World Cup 2018 success in Russia almost three years ago. It’s no surprise then that both players have been named by Didier Deschamps for this month’s upcoming international alongside defender Kurt Zouma.
France will kick off their World Cup qualifying campaign against Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Bosnia Herzegovina in what they hope will be the beginning of a long, but ultimately successful road to defending their title as world champions.
Success south of the border
It’s not all about the Euros, but with a stellar club and international career behind him Thiago Silva continues to feature prominently for his national side. If the Rio de Janeiro born defender can stay fit he will certainly be one of the first names on Brazil manager Tite’s squad list.
Taking place across host cities in both Argentina and Colombia, there are still serious doubts as to whether this year’s Copa America tournament, already delayed a year, will go ahead. Alongside hosts Argentina, Brazil remain favourites to retain their title.
It will certainly be an exciting and action-packed summer for the faithful following Chelsea’s players in their respective international sides, but it remains to be seen just who will come out on top.