Everton's World Cup Stars Analysed: Part Two

Everton's World Cup stars have had mixed results in terms of their performances, results, and game time so far at the tournament.

The Toffees have just four players at the 2026 World Cup, the joint-fewest in the Premier League. Jordan Pickford, Iliman Ndiaye, Idrissa Gueye and Nathan Patterson have all had some involvement for their countries, with the latter now playing all three of his group stage games.

It's been an interesting World Cup so far, with plenty of entertaining games, but more frustration when it comes to hydration/advert breaks. All four of Everton's players have a chance of entering the knockout stages, but there is a chance we see some of them eliminated. 

If you want to read part one, click this link. 

Since the first update, Pickford has played just once. The Everton goalkeeper started between the sticks for his country against Ghana, as they were held to a 0-0 draw. A clean sheet for Pickford, but a disappointing result for England. 

Pickford had some shaky moments, including an incident where some suggested he should have been sent off. It was certainly a debatable one, but he was also fouled in the process. 

After conceding twice against Croatia in the opening game, Pickford will be pleased to have kept a clean sheet. England are guaranteed to go through to the knockouts, and they'll be hoping to finish in first place with a win over Panama this weekend.

Pickford was recently praised by legendary goalkeeper Peter Shilton, labelling the Everton goalkeeper the best number one since Shilton himself was between the sticks. 

Patterson was given the opportunity to start Scotland's final two games of the World Cup group stage after Aaron Hickey picked up an injury. 

I had the pleasure of working the Brazil game on Wednesday night, and it wasn't a poor performance from Patterson by any means. He was up against the likes of Vinicius Junior, who has been in phenomenal form, but he held his own. 

He could have done better for the final goal, losing Vinicius at the back post as he headed home, but he certainly wasn't the only one at fault. 

Scotland do have a chance of qualifying for the knockouts, but they have a nervous wait after finishing in third.

At the ripe old age of 36, Gueye played the full 90 minutes against Norway as they suffered a 3-2 defeat last time out. The Senegalese midfielder completed the most passes on the pitch, but he wasn't his usual self in terms of winning the ball back.

Gueye kept things ticking over in midfield, but it felt like the difficulties of the tournament in terms of fitness got to him. It's been a struggle for Senegal so far, who have lost both of their games. As it stands, they will be heading out unless they beat Iraq next time out and other results go their way.

The 36-year-old has been a key figure for Senegal in the heart of the midfield. He's likely to start once again when they play Iraq on Friday night.

Iliman Ndiaye was forced to watch on from the bench as Senegal succumbed to a 3-2 defeat against Norway. Despite Senegal pushing to find an equaliser late on, needing a goal, the Everton forward still remained on the bench and failed to play a single minute.

Senegal have a lot of firepower in attack with Sadio Mané, Ismaila Sarr, and Nicolas Jackson, but it was interesting to see Ndiaye not even given a single minute in this game. 

In the opening game against France, Ndiaye came off the bench for just seven minutes, providing an assist late on. The Senegalese manager clearly doesn't fancy him, but after they failed to win both of their games, it will be interesting to see if he mixes up his starting 11 against Iran.