Cole Palmer will not be playing on the nation’s screens during this summer’s World Cup, but the Chelsea ace will feature in a different capacity in an England shirt
Chelsea and England star Cole Palmer has been thrust into the spotlight of Nike’s World Cup advert despite being omitted from the tournament altogether. The American sportswear giants unveiled their pre-tournament television commercial this week.
Nike will supply kits for a host of nations competing across the USA, Mexico and Canada. To kick off their advertising campaign, they released a six-minute video showcasing some of football’s most recognisable names, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Vinicius Jr, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
They were joined by legendary figures such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Didier Drogba and Eric Cantona, alongside four-time NBA champion LeBron James and celebrities Kim Kardashian and Travis Scott. Hollywood A-lister Channing Tatum also features, appearing as Erling Haaland’s stunt double.
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One eyebrow-raising inclusion was Chelsea playmaker Palmer, who appears sporting an England kit bearing the number 20. The only problem is that the midfielder won’t be anywhere near the World Cup.
The former Manchester City man was among several shock absentees when Thomas Tuchel named his 26-man squad. Addressing that decision, the England manager said: “No, I don’t fear because I am very confident in the group that we chose of which we arrive with.
“Very difficult decisions, painful conversations. Difficult for the players, difficult to explain to the players. What we’re trying to achieve as a team and we try to nominate a balanced squad.
“If everyone is selected, it was a given that from these 55 players, we have to leave some extraordinary talents, some extraordinary personalities at home.
“Either way, if we picked all those names, some other big five names would have been out and we would be talking about these names. It comes with the job.”
“I like these kinds of decisions, even if it sometimes took weeks and sometimes, months to clarify the decisions. I think they bring clarity. At the end, they bring a certain edge that is necessary.”
“Did they do anything wrong? No. Could they be in camp? Yes. 100% sure. But for some of them, it is just the amount of players in a certain position.
“We didn’t want to play the players out of position so much and we wanted to give them a clear role and it comes with difficult and maybe hard choices in the build up to the tournament.”
England’s World Cup campaign gets underway against Croatia in Texas on June 17, before facing further group stage encounters with Ghana and Panama.
Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package
Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.
Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.
