Cole Palmer has not featured for England since the side’s friendly with Japan in March (Picture: Getty) Alan Shearer says he ‘doesn’t understand’ Cole Palmer’s withdrawal from England’s Nations League squad considering the Chelsea attacker ‘hasn’t played a lot of football’ following his World Cup snub this summer. Palmer was named in Thomas Tuchel’s initial 27-man party for England’s upcoming games against Spain, the Czech Republic (playing home and away) and Croatia last week. The 24-year-old went on to see out the full 90 minutes of Chelsea’s 3-0 loss to Brentford on Friday night – his seventh appearance of the season in all competitions for the Blues. After a deeply frustrating 2025/26 campaign with Chelsea, Palmer had hoped to have put his fitness concerns behind him, with the former Manchester City man registering four goals and two assists this term. Less football on the telly? Read about it instead Our exclusive football newsletter cuts through the noise to deliver analysis and gossip straight to your inbox every week. Sign up now for free. But on Monday it was announced that Palmer had pulled out of the Three Lions’ squad, along with Arsenal’s Declan Rice, Newcastle’s Tino Livramento and Manchester United duo Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo. Everton’s James Garner and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, who have been called up as cover, will no doubt be looking to make their case for selection over the next fortnight. ‘I think at every opportunity you have to go and play for England. You can’t just turn up for World Cups or Euros or whatever,’ ex-England striker Shearer told Betfair when asked about the five withdrawals from Tuchel’s squad. Palmer has been in fine form for Chelsea this season (Picture: Getty) Shearer ‘doesn’t understand’ Palmer’s withdrawal (Picture: Getty) ‘We don’t know, and we’re speculating, but it’s a lot of players to pull out, isn’t it? ‘Rice, I guess, his withdrawal is because of the amount of football he’s played. It does look as if he’s nursing something. ‘The others, I don’t know their situation, but that’s a lot of players to be pulling out. {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Anthony Gordon admits England 'don't have it in us' after Thomas Tuchel claim","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/09\/24\/1045521199291216015\/480x270_MP4_1045521199291216015.mp4","description":"Speaking to the press before England's match against Spain, Anthony Gordon has agreed with Thomas Tuchel's claim that England 'don't have it in us' to control games through possession.","duration":"T1M13S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/09\/24\/08\/111438465-0-image-m-5_1790234768135.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-09-24T08:22:04+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); ‘However, what it does do is give others the opportunity to stake their claim. Someone like Morgan Gibbs-White has the chance now because Tuchel’s words were, well, there’s too many tens. Well, one’s pulled out. ‘Now he’s got his opportunity. You can imagine if he goes in there and does well, scores, puts in a really good performance, then the manager would have to pick him for the next squad because of that and that’s the opportunity he’s now got.’ A ‘minor muscular issue’ has been cited as the reason for Palmer’s ab