When Paige Bailey-Gayle steps out with her Jamaica teammates for their World Cup opener in Sydney, she will become the Palace Women’s first representative on football’s biggest stage – and she will follow in the footsteps of some of the club’s greatest players.
Jamaica became the first ever Caribbean country to qualify and their ambition does not stop there.
It will be no easy task – two of the favourites, Brazil and France, are in Jamaica’s group – but it will be a fantastic achievement for a player who has made a significant impact in the past few years.
With a place in the history books approaching, here are five more players Bailey-Gayle will join in the elite club of Crystal Palace’s World Cup representatives…
The first player to feature in a World Cup side while playing for Palace, Berhalter’s United States qualified for the knockout stage ahead of Portugal, beating Mexico in the knockout round before losing to eventual finalists Germany in the quarter-finals.
He would be back at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, this time as manager, guiding the USA to the Round of 16.
The Palace legend not only featured for Australia in the World Cup, he captained them. The men from down under found themselves in a group of death alongside Chile, Spain and the Netherlands, but Jedinak still had the privilege of leading them out in Brazil to make their mark.
Ayew had already featured in a World Cup when he signed for Palace – playing for Ghana in 2014 – but he did so again just last year in Qatar.
In the toughest of groups, alongside Portugal, South Korea and – with a chance at revenge – Uruguay, Ghana fell short of qualifying for the knockout rounds.
The Eagles’ captain led Serbia to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he featured against Costa Rica and Switzerland in a group also containing the formidable figure of Brazil.
Serbia started well, but fell agonisingly short of qualification for the knockout rounds with a 90th minute defeat to Switzerland.
Andersen’s experience of the biggest international tournaments was bolstered in 2021, when they reached the semi-finals of the European Championships before being beaten by England at Wembley.
As such, they came into the 2022 World Cup as dark horses, but failed to get out of the group stage – including defeat to future finalists France, via a brace from Kylian Mbappe.
Honourable mentions must go to more names: Gareth Southgate, with the former Palace captain representing England as a player and manager; Cheikhou Kouyaté, who represented Senegal at the 2018 World Cup weeks before joining Palace; Clinton Morrison, who travelled to the 2002 World Cup with Ireland but did not feature; and Conor Gallagher, who earned a first call-up at Palace and travelled with England to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
All times BST.
