Everton's World Cup Stars Analysed: First Set of Fixtures

The World Cup is now in full flow, with the first set of fixtures all complete.

Everton are represented at the tournament by just four players, the joint fewest in the Premier League. Those players are Jordan Pickford, Iliman Ndiaye, Idrissa Gueye and Nathan Patterson, who were all involved for their respective countries in the first set of games.

We'll now look into each individual player and how they fared during the opening set of games.

Pickford started England's opening group stage game against Croatia, with Thomas Tuchel's side securing a 4-2 victory. The England goalkeeper made three saves, conceding twice, while he was more heavily involved in build-up than we've seen him previously.  

Pickford was tasked with playing out from the back more than we've seen him during his time at Everton, and there was even a moment when England boss Tuchel was spotted losing it with him.

Tuchel was seen barking instructions at Pickford, asking him to 'do as I told you'.  

The Everton number one didn't have a lot to do in terms of defending his goal, aside from the times Croatia found the back of the net. 

Up next for England is their second group stage clash against Ghana next week.

Patterson was perhaps given a surprise call-up to the Scotland squad ahead of the World Cup. The 24-year-old has struggled to cement a regular place in the Everton side over the last few years and also found it difficult during the 25/26 season. 

Despite that, Steve Clarke gave Patterson a call-up to the squad, and he was involved in the opening game against Haiti on Sunday morning. 

Patterson came off the bench in the second half to play the final 15 minutes of the match, helping his side secure a clean sheet. 

The win could almost guarantee Scotland a place in the knockout rounds, and it was necessary with a tough game against Morocco up next before they then play Brazil.

Ndiaye was brought off the bench as Senegal were defeated 3-1 by France on Tuesday evening.

The Senegalese forward has been in the media lately after claims that he has rejected multiple contract offers from Everton. The World Cup is an opportunity for him to announce himself on the biggest stage, but he failed to do so against France.

And I came off the bench in the 83rd minute, providing an assist as Senegal secured themselves a consolation goal.

Up next for Senegal is a game against Norway in the second round of fixtures. Ndiaye will be hoping to play from the start this time around with Sadio Mane and Ismaila Sarr failing to impress.  

Gueye played a more prominent role than Ndiaye for Senegal, playing a total of 88 minutes in the centre of the park against France.

In typical Gueye fashion, the midfielder was everywhere for Senegal, but they couldn't deal with the attacking talents of Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise.

The 36-year-old made six recoveries, five passes into the final third, and had a 92% pass accuracy.

The Everton midfielder suffered some injury problems towards the end of last season and was only on the bench against Saudi Arabia in their final friendly before the tournament.

He will likely be pushing to start once again as Senegal prepare to face Norway next week.