Palmer withdrawing from England squad

Cole Palmer was recalled to Thomas Tuchel's squad after being snubbed for the 2026 World Cup; Palmer has scored four goals in seven games this season for Chelsea; Palmer had previously stated he felt back to his best after an injury-hit 2025-26 campaign

Cole Palmer is withdrawing from the England squad because of a muscle injury.

Palmer, who was left out of Tuchel's World Cup squad in the summer, played the full 90 minutes in Chelsea's defeat to Brentford after being recalled for the Three Lions' Nations League games against Spain, Czech Republic and Croatia.

The 24-year-old has looked back to his best since the snub, scoring four goals and providing two assists in seven appearances for The Blues this season.

After struggling with injuries last season, Palmer told Sky Sports that he felt that he was back to full fitness coming into the new campaign.

"Physically I feel good, probably the best I've felt in ages, but I think I can [get fitter] with games and more minutes," Palmer said.

"Before my groin injury, I'd never really been injured. Well, rarely [injured]. So then I would just come back and play when I shouldn't have played.

"Obviously the World Cup was coming up, so I was in a bit of a dilemma thinking: 'if I don't play I'm not going to go. But if I play then, I can't play [properly]'.

"It was just a bit of a sticky situation. I didn't really know how to deal with it, but it's one of those things. I was just seeing different people, getting different ideas of why I was injured and what it was.

"Since I've come back I've been working every day to obviously stop it happening again. I just want to stay injury free, and if I'm on the pitch then I know what I can do."

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