Who has played the most minutes over the international break?

The final international break of 2024/25 saw over 200 Premier League players representing their nations.

Some popular Fantasy Premier League picks didn't feature, having withdrawn from their respective national team squads or missed out due to injury.

The pre-match press conferences will hopefully clear up some of these worries before Tuesday's 18:15 BST deadline.

Head coaches also usually have to consider accumulated international minutes, long-haul flights and the late returns of their players when Premier League football resumes.

But the lack of top-flight action this weekend - the FA Cup takes centre stage instead - means that rotation and rest may not be the concerns they usually are come Gameweek 30.

Late returns

Once again, representatives from the Americas were the last ones in action due to timezone differences.

Below you can see the players who were in the squad for a match late on Tuesday night or in the early hours of Wednesday morning (GMT), and who have had long journeys back to England.

You can also see how many minutes they played in their midweek fixtures.

Argentina
Location (kick-off time GMT): Argentina (Wednesday, 00:00)
Players (minutes): E. Martinez (90), Enzo (90), Romero (90), Mac Allister (76)

Brazil
Location (kick-off time GMT): Argentina (Wednesday, 00:00)
Players (minutes): Andre (84), Cunha (69), Joao Gomes (45), Joelinton (45), Murillo (45), Savinho (21), Gabriel (0), Pedro (0), Guimaraes (0), Alisson (0)

Colombia
Location (kick-off time GMT): Colombia (Wednesday, 00:00)
Players (minutes): Lerma (90), Munoz (90), Diaz (90)

Ecuador
Location (kick-off time GMT): Chile (Wednesday, 00:00)
Players (minutes): Caicedo (90), Estupinan (81)

Jamaica
Location (kick-off time GMT): Jamaica (Wednesday, 00:00)
Players (minutes): Bailey (90), Pinnock (90), De Cordova-Reid (90)

Paraguay
Location (kick-off time GMT): Colombia (Wednesday, 00:00)
Players (minutes): Gomez (90), Enciso (73), Sosa (17)

Uruguay
Location (kick-off time GMT): Bolivia (Tuesday, 20:00)
Players (minutes): Ugarte (90), Bentancur (90), Darwin (52), S. Bueno (0) 

Total mins played by most-selected players

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Of the 30 most-owned players in FPL, four were not representing their nations because of injury: Cole Palmer (£10.8m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.3m), Antonee Robinson (£5.0m) and Ollie Watkins (£8.9m).

Lukasz Fabianski (£4.0m), meanwhile, retired from international football in 2021.

Bruno Fernandes (£8.6m), William Saliba (£6.2m) and Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m) will be glad of the weekend off after they all logged 210 minutes for their respective countries. 

Those three players and Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) were involved in UEFA Nations League quarter-final ties, with the second legs going to extra-time.

Eight others got a full 180 minutes of action, including record-breaking FPL points scorer Mohamed Salah (£13.7m).

Daniel Munoz (£5.1m), Milos Kerkez (£5.2m) and Omar Marmoush (£7.3m) were also among that group. It'll be worth monitoring their minutes in this weekend's FA Cup quarter-final ties to see if there is any risk of their game-time being managed in the subsequent Gameweek 30 fixtures.

Four of the outfielders not yet mentioned had just one start for their respective nations: Gabriel (£6.4m), Pedro Porro (£5.3m), Morgan Rogers (£5.5m) and Joao Pedro (£5.6m).

Chris Wood (£7.3m) was only handed 116 minutes, too, although his second start for New Zealand was cut short by injury. He's one of the key names to monitor when the pre-match press conferences begin, with the forward ruled out of Sunday's FA Cup tie at Brighton & Hove Albion.

For more useful FPL information on the international break, Fantasy Football Scout’s round-up covers all 20 Premier League clubs in detail.