Jordan Ayew has been included in Ghana’s World Cup 2022 squad along with his brother Andre. Ayew is a trustworthy player who doesn’t mind putting a shift in for his club and country. Having helped Ghana to qualify for the World Cup, it was expected that Ayew would be included in the 26-man squad travelling to Qatar.

Ghana had a disappointing time at the Africa Cup of Nations this year finishing bottom of their group. They’ll be hoping to change this at the World Cup as the fans will still remember the heartache at the 2010 World Cup when they lost to Uruguay in the semi-final.

Coincidentally, Uruguay are in the same group as Ghana along with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and Heung Min Son’s South Korea. They have the largest odds to get out of the group so there’s not much hope for the West African country. But, you never know what’s going to happen in tournament football.

Unfortunately, fellow Palace teammate and Ghana international, Jeffrey Schlupp, didn’t make the squad even though he’s a versatile player.

If Ghana drop out of the competition early, we could see Ayew back in training with the Palace squad as they have a friendly home match against Botafogo in December. That said, Vieira will likely give the two players heading to the World Cup, Ayew and Andersen (Denmark), extra time off to recover from the intense run of matches they’re likely to have.

Jeffrey Schlupp has been a key player for Ghana over the past few years, but he has been left out of the squad for the upcoming World Cup. This is a surprise to many, as Schlupp is a versatile player who can provide play in both attacking and defensive midfield roles.

It is thought that Ghana manager Otto Addo has opted for other options in those positions, which has seen Schlupp miss out on selection. He was originally included in the 55-man preliminary squad and most Ghanaians and football fans thought he’d be called up, but for some reason hasn’t been.

He’s played regularly this season for Crystal Palace so it’s not a case that he’s lacking match fitness or has picked up an injury in recent weeks. Schlupp who won the Premier League with Leicester back in 2016 would’ve been a great player to have in the squad, even if he wasn’t in the starting eleven.

His fellow teammate at Palace, Jordan Ayew, did make the Ghana squad so he’ll be representing The Eagles from Qatar even if Schlupp won’t be.

Schlupp will now have some time off in the break before the first match back for Palace which is on Boxing Day. He’ll also keep training with the team and they have two friendlies scheduled, one against Napoli in Turkey and another at Selhurst Park against Botafogo. This was easy to schedule due to John Textor owning shares in both Palace and the Brazilian side.

There’s also a chance for a third friendly against Spanish side Real Valladolid, but it still needs to be finalised. Vieira described these matches and training camp as “a mini pre-season before getting ready for the Fulham game” which is to be played on the 26th of December.

With only one Premier League match left before the break for the Winter World Cup, Gareth Southgate has announced his 26-man squad for the tournament. Crystal Palace duo Marc Guehi and Tyrick Mitchell who have both earned caps for England in the past have missed out.

Mitchell was mentioned more so than Guehi this time around as a backup for Luke Shaw as Ben Chilwell is out injured. Mitchell hasn’t had the best start to the season for Palace and Southgate likes the experience that Kieran Trippier offers even as a left-back.

Fikayo Tomori is another centre-back that missed out alongside Marc Guehi and he won the Serie A with AC Milan last season. James Tarkowski is another defender that didn’t make it whereas Conor Coady has made it into the squad. Harry Maguire has made the squad even though he’s not had as many minutes as he would have liked since Erik Ten Hag came in.

Chelsea midfielder and former Crystal Palace player, Conor Gallagher, has made the squad which has meant that James Ward-Prowse misses out. Gallagher is playing more under Potter than he did under Tuchel at the start of the season and his form at Palace last season was probably what made Southgate pick him.

With one Premier League match left before the break, there’s still a chance that any of these 26 pick-up injuries forcing Southgate to make changes before the team flies out for the tournament.

Keepers

• Aaron Ramsdale
• Jordan Pickford
• Nick Pope

Defenders

• Conor Coady
• Harry Maguire
• John Stones
• Kieran Trippier
• Luke Shaw
• Ben White
• Kyle Walker
• Trent Alexander-Arnold
• Eric Dier

Midfielders

• Conor Gallagher
• Mason Mount
• Declan Rice
• Jude Bellingham
• Kalvin Phillips
• Jordan Henderson

Forwards

• Harry Kane
• Raheem Sterling
• Callum Wilson
• Bukayo Saka
• Jack Grealish
• Marcus Rashford
• Phil Foden
• James Maddison