Arsenal players going deep in World Cup as holidays start for others

With a squad that won the Premier League and reached the Champions League final, Arsenal were always going to have a lot of players involved in the World Cup.

The Gunners have four players in the England squad, with Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke all preparing for a last-16 tie against Mexico at the Azteca on Sunday.

Arsenal fans will be concerned that Rice is pushing himself to the limit as he deals with an ongoing hamstring issue and was pictured icing the area after England's 2-1 win over DR Congo.

But the midfielder is a key man and, if England go deep in the tournament, Rice could be in action for another two weeks.

The same can be said for forward Bukayo Saka, who is having his game time managed by England boss Thomas Tuchel as he gets over an Achilles problem.

But there is some relief for Gunners supporters, too. Now the knockout rounds are under way and teams are getting sent home, players can start to get some rest before the next campaign - even if it is not what they had hoped for.

Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres are now both out of the World Cup as Germany and Sweden lost their last-32 matches to Paraguay and France respectively.

Piero Hincapie was on the losing side as Ecuador were eliminated by Mexico and it was a nightmare ending for the defender, who was sent off for covering his mouth during an altercation with an oppponent.

Belgium's Leandro Trossard is preparing for a match against co-hosts USA, while the Spanish contingent of David Raya, Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi are all still in the tournament and have progressed to the last 16 too.

The World Cup is the highest honour for players but Mikel Arteta will hope that some of his players can now get some rest as they prepare to defend their Premier League title.