Another angle to reflect on how far Palace have comepublished at 11:28 BST 14 October 2025
Alex Pewter
Fan writer

Image source, Getty ImagesCrystal Palace may be a mere footnote in the career of former USA player and head coach Gregg Berhalter, but in 2002, shortly before leaving the club for Germany, he became the first Palace player to play at a World Cup.
An odd accolade to highlight perhaps, but with the eyes of football currently focused on the battle for places at the 2026 World Cup in North America, Palace have never had as many players factoring into that contest in their history.
The club has had six players feature across five of the past six competitions, for a total of 14 appearances. In contrast, for next year's showpiece, four players already have places booked at the World Cup – Chris Richards, Daichi Kamada, and the Colombia pair of Daniel Munoz and Jefferson Lerma.
This week has been a particularly successful international break for those away from Copers Cope. Jean-Philippe Mateta made a long-overdue debut for France, Yeremy Pino and Ismaila Sarr both were on the scoresheet for their countries, whilseMarc Guehi got a pair of assists for England.
Rather than being players playing for fringe teams within the competition, these are players playing for potential favourites come June. In the case of England, Adam Wharton will be gunning to join that number.
There are still others who could add to that figure, albeit with outside chances, such as Justin Devenny for Northern Ireland and Rio Cardines for Trinidad and Tobago.
We often reflect on how far the team has come this century, and this is undoubtedly a new angle, given the calibre of players currently in the squad.
Even for casual fans of the international game at this World Cup, Crystal Palace will never have had this many vested interests on the biggest stage in sport.
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