Manchester City and Arsenal, meanwhile, had the greatest concentration of players making deep runs into the competition.

City’s World Cup contingent featured for several of the tournament’s leading nations.

Rodri helped Spain win their second men’s World Cup after playing 726 minutes, while Marc Guehi and Elliot Anderson helped England reach the final weekend.

Nico O’Reilly featured in England’s semi-final run, while Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku both reached the quarter-finals.

Arsenal‘s numbers were similarly striking.

Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka remained involved until England’s 6-4 victory over France in the third-place play-off, while Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino reached the final with Spain.

William Saliba helped France reach the third-place play-off, although he was subsequently injured and did not feature again. Noni Madueke was part of England’s run to the final weekend but did not play beyond the quarter-finals, while Martin Odegaard captained Norway to the quarter-finals.

The workload concerns are already being felt. City’s Rodri recently had back surgery and is expected to miss a “short period” at the start of the season, while Saliba avoided surgery, but Arsenal have confirmed he will be sidelined for an “extended period” because of a back issue.

Even though neither setback can be attributed solely to the World Cup, both underline the physical demands being placed on players in an increasingly crowded football calendar.

Those clubs are likely to begin the campaign without having enjoyed a full pre-season with several key players.

Beever-Jones used the summer off to recover and travel, visiting Copenhagen and Los Angeles before grabbing a ticket to watch the men’s World Cup final.

In that time, she learned to prioritise her body – something she had not thought about as much previously because of her rapid success and consistent goalscoring form.

Successful loan spells at Bristol City and Everton were followed by 11 goals for Chelsea in the 2023-24 season, finishing with the best minutes-per-goal ratio in the WSL and earning an England call-up.

The season after continued in a similar vein. She was Chelsea’s top scorer on the way to an unbeaten domestic treble, and capped by winning Euro 2025 with England.

But last season she learned a harsh lesson, only once completing a full game after Christmas while Manchester City ended Chelsea’s six-year stranglehold on the WSL.

“It was extremely tough – it was the first big injury I had,” Beever-Jones said of her ankle issues.

“I’m never going to go off the pitch unless I’m in absolute agony. There were a few times where I wanted to carry on pushing and my body was not ready and I really struggled with that.

“The mental side isn’t always spoken about enough. My job is to be a footballer and as soon as that’s taken away from me, I feel empty.

“It’s hard to fill that void. You come to training and you try to put on a brave face but you do feel a little bit isolated.

“There were some dark times but I think that’s all part of the journey that you need to go on to really appreciate the good times.”

Beever-Jones says she feels “stronger” after that challenging period and is ready to fight for a consistent starting role at Chelsea.

She also has her mind on the Women’s World Cup next year and to catch England manager Sarina Wiegman’s eye as the Lionesses attempt to reach a fourth successive major final.

The striker has netted seven goals in 16 England appearances, including a memorable first-half hat-trick against Portugal at Wembley in 2025.

However, she has often found herself below Alessia Russo and, at Euro 2025, Michelle Agyemang in the pecking order – so is this a crucial season for Beever-Jones?

“That’s why I was so gaffed about last year,” she said. “[The World Cup is] my ambition and I hope I can get there, but I’ve just got to take each day as it comes.”

Beever-Jones reminded WSL fans of her abilities with a starring role at the World Sevens in May where she scored six goals, including Chelsea’s winner in the final against Manchester United.

“The World Sevens tournament was such a good time for me. It was finally when I felt back at full fitness and I was ready to go,” she added.

“It was a shame that the season came to an end then but that was me in my flow state – when I’m happy, I’m enjoying it and I’m not playing in pain.

“Obviously it’s a really big year with the World Cup and I just hope I can help to grow the game and Chelsea can dominate domestically and in Europe.”