Teammates, but rivals: When Palace players have met on international duty

Club

4 hours ago

In the 2026 FIFA World Cup, tonight is once again the matchround for Group I – in which Eagles could feature for Senegal (Ismaïla Sarr), France (Maxence Lacroix and Jean-Philippe Mateta) and Norway (Jørgen Strand Larsen).

Tonight's matches see France take on Iraq in Philadelphia (22:00 BST kick-off UK time), before Norway play Senegal in New Jersey overnight (01:00 BST).

But should any meet on the pitch, it wouldn't be the first time Palace players have featured on either side of an international clash…

In recent years, there's been an uptick in Palace stars donning red and blue as well as their country’s colours, but back in the early 2000s it was a rare occasion for our Eagles to represent their nations – let alone for multiple to face each other.

One such occasion some 23 years ago in October saw none other than Palace legend Dougie Freedman come up against his fellow teammates Aleksandrs Kolinko and Andrejs Rubins as Scotland faced Latvia at Hampden Park.

Rubins, who spent three years in SE25 and scored an iconic goal against Liverpool in the League Cup semi-final, opened the scoring with a well-taken finish on a cut back 20 minutes in for Latvia in this crucial World Cup qualifier.

Remarkably, Freedman headed in on the stroke of half-time, past ‘keeper Kolinko, to level for Scotland before they eventually emerged 2-1 winners. As rare as it is to have two or more Palace representatives on both sides, to have both of them score is even more of a spectacle.

The duo of Rubins and Kolinko also faced another teammate in Aki Riihilahti when Finland hosted Latvia in May 2002 for a friendly. Amazingly, once again one of the three Palace players got on the scoresheet as Riihilahti levelled for Finland 70 minutes in.

Another Palace player in Shefki Kuqi went on to score the winner for Finland in the 83rd minute, though he wasn’t to arrive in SE25 until 2006.

A clash more closer to home which saw two Palace players involved back in February 2005 involved midfielder Carl Fletcher lining up for Wales against iconic goalkeeper Gábor Király.

The tracksuit bottom-wearing goalkeeper couldn’t keep out Fletcher’s Wales however, as they won 2-0 at the Millennium Stadium. Incidentally, former Palace man Rob Edwards and Danny Gabbidon - who would arrive at Selhurst Park many years later - were also involved for the Red Dragons that evening.

Sticking with Wales, former Palace shot-stopper Wayne Hennessey also faced his captain-at-the-time Luka Milivojević in a World Cup qualifier back in June 2017.

There was also fellow midfielder Joe Ledley for Milivojević to contend with in midfield, though the spoils were shared as the sides drew 1-1.

In a friendly prior to Euro 2016, England – then managed by Roy Hodgson – faced Australia where then Palace skipper Mile Jedinak captained the Socceroos against an England team which featured one of our own in Nathaniel Clyne. England went on to win 2-1, with both Clyne and Jedinak playing the entire game.

Palace heroes Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie both faced each other in a friendly, back in 2019. Zaha sealed the win for Ivory Coast with a third and final goal in a 3-1 victory, while Bolasie assisted the only goal for DR Congo after coming on at half-time.

This is a far from extensive look back at how both current and former Palace teammates have faced one another on the international stage.

But more recent years have seen Jordan Ayew come up against none other than Cheick Doucouré in 2020. In a friendly that was contested behind closed doors, the midfielder, who would go on to join the Eagles in 2022, registered his first-ever assist for Mali as they won 3-0 against Ayew’s Ghana.

At the 2024 European Championship finals, Marc Guéhi and Ebere Eze – with Henderson and Adam Wharton also among the Three Lions squad – came up against Joachim Andersen and Denmark in a 1-1 group-stage draw.

Meanwhile, in a pre-Copa América friendly two years ago, Jefferson Lerma and Daniel Muñoz both started against Chris Richards as Colombia triumphed over the United States in Maryland.

And in a post-season friendly last summer, when England hosted Senegal in a friendly at the City Ground, Palace’s Dean Henderson and Eze both started for Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions, while Sarr started for Senegal – and, despite Henderson keeping out a couple of his efforts, duly scored in a 3-1 win for the African side.

Earlier this season, there were more meetings of Palace players around the world.

Back in the autumn, Richards played the full 90 minutes of United States' 2-0 win over Japan – and teammate Daichi Kamada, who came on after an hour – in Columbus.

And in March, Palace’s Justin Devenny played for Northern Ireland up against Wales and Brennan Johnson – who came on as a second-half substitute – in a 1-1 friendly draw.

Earlier this summer, there was plenty of Palace interest in an exciting pre-World Cup friendly between France and Colombia at Maryland's Northwest Stadium.

Fresh from making his senior debut as a second-half substitute for Les Bleus last week, Maxence Lacroix duly came in for the start for France – and came up against a Colombia team for whom both Muñoz and Lerma were in the starting XI.

Throw in Michael Olise's late introduction for France off the bench – the former Palace attacker pictured taking on Lerma below – and it was quite the glamour match-up for Eagles fans to enjoy.

The result ultimately went Lacroix and France's way, with the Palace defender earning rave reviews for his uncompromising defending over the course of 90 minutes in a 3-1 win, despite Lerma picking up an assist for Colombia.

And just two weeks ago, Devenny started for Northern Ireland and went up against with Lacroix and Mateta as France faced Northern Ireland in Lille.

Lacroix came off the bench for the second-half to face his Palace teammate, but it duly became the Olise show – the former Eagle netting a hat-trick, despite Devenny picking up a pre-assist in a 3-1 defeat.

Lacroix, having helped Les Bleus defend their lead, embraced Devenny at full-time.

South London and Proud.

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