Mendy lifted the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday, making him the latest member of the current Blues squad to get his hands on international silverware of late.

As we prepare to take part in the Club World Cup, here’s a reminder of how Chelsea have, continent by continent, conquered the globe (sort of!).

Edouard Mendy

After missing the first two games of the delayed AFCON, which was due to be played this time last year, Mendy would have been forgiven for cursing his luck. Instead, he came back for the third group match and did what he has been doing for Chelsea over the past 18 months – keeping clean sheets.

The former Rennes keeper kept back-to-back clean sheets on his return to the team and although he conceded one goal in both the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, Senegal cruised through to meet Egypt in the final.

Once again, Mendy was unbeatable, as he helped his side to another clean sheet in a 0-0 draw. And while Kepa has been the Blues’ penalty shoot-out hero this season, Mendy showed he’s got that in his locker too, as he saved Egypt’s fourth spot-kick, allowing his country to claim Africa’s continental trophy for the first time.

He’s not the first Chelsea player to get his hands on that particular piece of silverware, though. John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses were both in the Blues’ first-team squad when Nigeria won the competition in 2013, while Kenneth Omeruo was also our player but out on loan.

Jorginho

Any English fans reading this may want to look away now. The European Championship – which was still called Euro 2020, despite being played in 2021 – was the tournament when a nation thought that football was finally coming home. Instead, it was Jorginho – and, let’s not forget, Emerson, now on loan at Lyon – who were left celebrating at the end of a dramatic final at Wembley Stadium.

England had made it all the way to the final of a major tournament for the first time in 55 years, on home soil against an Italy side that hadn’t even reached the previous World Cup. Among the leaders of Roberto Mancini’s side was Jorginho, whose metronomic passing and ability to sniff out attacks had been key to getting the Azzurri within touching distance of the final.

After 120 hard-fought minutes, when Italy had cancelled out an early goal by boyhood Chelsea fan Luke Shaw to send the game to extra time, penalties were needed to separate the two sides at a drenched Wembley.

Although Jorgi was denied by a fantastic save by Jordan Pickford – preventing him from converting the winning spot-kick in the semi-final and final – it was Italy’s night. Jorginho and Emerson were European champions at both club and international level, and the personal honours for our midfielder have steadily followed ever since…

The duo also took the number of Chelsea players to lift the European Championship trophy up to seven, following in the footsteps of Fernando Torres, Juan Mata, Didier Deschamps, Marcel Desailly and Frank Leboeuf. No English club has had more winners of the tournament.

Christian Pulisic

Although our American ace wasn’t called upon for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which took place last summer, due to the USA squad going with a home-based squad (the final took place a fortnight before the Premier League season began), Pulisic was part of the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League earlier in 2021.

It had already been an historic year for Chelsea’s No10, as he’d become the first American to lift the Champions League trophy, and after missing out on Gold Cup glory in 2019 to Mexico, he helped his country gain some semblance of revenge for that disappointment with a thrilling victory in Denver.

Pulisic captained Gregg Berhalter’s side against their old rivals and the game went into extra time after a 2-2 draw, with USA twice equalising. Then, with six minutes of the additional period remaining and penalties on the horizon, the US were awarded a spot-kick that Pulisic despatched.

That proved to be enough to ensure they became the first winners of the Nations League, adding to the seven Gold Cups the country has won.

N’Golo Kante

We haven’t got any players in our ranks contesting the Asia and Oceania tournaments – although Chelsea Women midfielder Ji So-Yun very nearly led South Korea to glory in the Women’s Asian Cup last week – and Thiago Silva came within a game of leading Brazil to Copa America glory last summer. But we can more than make up for that with a player who is a world champion.

It’s scarcely believable that four years have passed since N’Golo Kante – and Olivier Giroud, who was also a Chelsea player at the time – helped France to their second World Cup triumph, emerging as the team most agreed were deserving winners of a brilliant tournament in Russia.

Kante was a mainstay of the midfield for Les Bleus under Deschamps, as they overcame a tricky route to the final that included Argentina, Uruguay and France, before thumping Croatia in the final.