What we learned about Everton's World Cup stars as tournament ends in Spain win vs Argentina

Everton had four players representing them at this summer's World Cup.

It only comes round every four years, and by the time it's here, it's gone again.

The 2026 World Cup is in the books, and it's final page ends with Spain being crowned champions for the second time in their history after an extra-time win over Argentina.

Everton had at least one player in three different teams at the World Cup, and their respective success was very much mixed.

Some played almost every minute, others far fewer than they would've liked.

Goodison News takes a look at the tournaments of the four Everton players involved, and reflects on what we can learn from their displays.

How Everton's Senegalese duo had mixed World Cup fortunes

The four Everton players who went to the World Cup were: Jordan Pickford (England), Nathan Patterson (Scotland), Iliman Ndiaye (Senegal) and Idrissa Gana Gueye (Senegal), with the latter still being under contract at the start of the tournament.

Starting with Everton's Senegalese contingent, Ndiaye had a frustrating-yet-impactful World Cup.

The 26-year-old played in three of Senegal's four matches, but started only one of them and culminated a little over 100 minutes of action.

However, he did score and provide two assists, with no player in his position bettering his 1.59 assists per 90 average at the tournament, per FotMob.

Pape Thiaw largely favoured Paris Saint-Germain's Ibrahim Mbaye and Al Nassr's Sadio Mane over the Everton man, which is possibly a big point of regret for the Senegal boss given that Mane didn't score a single goal at the tournament.

What we can perhaps take from Ndiaye's World Cup is that, despite providing three goal contributions, his lack of minutes and starting opportunities could just work in Everton's favour in terms of transfer interest being generated for him.

Moving across to his teammate, Gueye - now a free agent - surely won't be looking for a club to play for in 2026-27 for long.

The 36-year-old started in all four of Senegal's matches, playing over 360 minutes of football and being one of their standout players to boot.

As per FotMob, he won every single one of his five aerial duels at the tournament, and wasn't dispossessed a single time.

His 73.7 per cent duel win rate ranked him in the top 3.6 per cent of all players in his position at the World Cup, with absolutely no signs of his age slowing him down.

So, whether it's with Everton or someone else, Gueye - so long as he wishes to keep playing in 2026-27 - has absolutely earned himself another contract.

Goodison News has been following reports that Gueye has interest growing from Saudi Arabian clubs this summer, so he may just have added some extra digits to any contract he signs over there as well.

One Everton player who may have played his way out of his current Toffees contract in North America, however, is Nathan Patterson.

Patterson won't have changed David Moyes' mind

Having played just eight times across all competitions for Everton last season, Patterson has always looked likely to leave Hill Dickinson Stadium this summer.

But, as the Toffees still search for upgrades at right-back, a strong World Cup could've planted some seeds of doubt in David Moyes' mind over whether moving on from the Scotsman is the right decision.

That won't be the debate raging inside the Everton gaffer's head though, as the 24-year-old struggled to make much of an impression with the Tartan Army.

He played in all three of Scotland's group stage games, starting two, but didn't register a single goal contribution, and his underlying numbers don't make for great reading either.

Indeed, his five duels won placed him in the bottom 15.5 per cent of right-backs at the World Cup, whilst his six recoveries and four tackles won ranked him in the lowest 25.4 and 38 percentiles respectively.

Patterson also delivered just one successful cross, won one aerial duel, took one touch in the opposition box and was dribbled past twice.

So, with Patterson likely confirming his Everton fate, did Jordan Pickford help to cement himself as the Toffees' undisputed starting goalkeeper moving forward?

Why Pickford had another major tournament to be proud of

A goalkeeper who does split opinion amongst England fans, Pickford, for the most part, has rarely ever let his country down on the biggest stage.

Of course, there have been goals conceded that he would want back and moments in games that could've been handled better, but there isn't a goalkeeper in existence who that doesn't apply to.

As per FotMob, no goalkeeper created more than Pickford's single chance at the World Cup, whilst his eight times acting as a sweeper placed him in the top 3.4 per cent of shot-stoppers at the tournament.

His 15 saves, four high claims, 166 successful passes and 37 accurate long balls were all amongst the very best as well.

Pickford's role in keeping a clean sheet in the 2-0 win over Panama in the final group stage game can't be overlooked either, whilst his display at the Azteca against Mexico was perhaps his best ever performance in an England shirt.

Could he have done better to stop Enzo Fernandez's equaliser against Argentina in the semi-final? Perhaps, but England didn't lose that match because of him.

Again, some of the saves he made that night kept Thomas Tuchel's side in the match, and so he can and should hold his head high from this tournament.

At 32, the conversations about how long he's got left at the top level will inevitably have to start over the next couple of years, but we've learnt that for a few years yet, Everton don't need to worry about him between the sticks.