International

Internationals: Saka makes England debut

We've had 11 players in action during the international break so far.

Scroll down to find out how they're faring:

Bukayo Saka made his England debut, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles featured from the bench in England’s 3-0 friendly win over Wales at Wembley. Bukayo started on the left side of a 3-4-3 formation, playing for 76 minutes before being replaced by Ainsley. England took the lead after 26 minutes thanks to a header from fellow debutant Dominic Calvert-Lewin, before Conor Coady got off the mark with his first international goal in the 53rd minute. Danny Ings provided the third goal with a bicycle kick to begin his own England scoring tally.

Eddie Nketiah moved level with Alan Shearer and Francis Jeffers by scoring his 13th goal at under-21 level in England’s 3-3 draw with Andorra. The UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifier was played at Estadi Nacional and the hosts took a surprise lead after 28 minutes through striker Couch. Tom Davies struck back moments before the half-time interval, before former Gunner Josh Dasilva gave the Young Lions the lead with 20 minutes remaining. However, Cucu scored to draw the hosts level. Nketiah came on in the 72nd minute and then scored what looked to be the winner, making a smart run in behind the back line and providing a first-time finish just 10 minutes after coming on. England were stunned in added time when Christian Garcia rescued a point for Andorra.

Sead Kolasinac played for 118 minutes as Bosnia and Herzegovina suffered penalty shootout hearbreak against Northern Ireland in their EURO 2020 playoff. Made Krunic had given the hosts the lead in Sarajevo, but Niall McGinn’s second-half strike forced the game into extra-time. With no goals in the additional 30 minutes, the game was settled on penalties - with Liam Boyce scoring the crucial spot-kick to seal Northern Ireland’s progression.

Bernd Leno played the entirety of Germany’s 3-3 draw with Turkey in a friendly played in Cologne. Julian Draxler gave the hosts the lead in added time at the end of the first half, but Ozan Tufan drew Turkey level just four minutes after the restart. Florian Neuhas restored Germany’s lead in the 58th minute, but Turkey once again drew level through Efecan Karaca’s strike just nine minutes later. Luca Waldschmit looked to have won the game for the hosts in the 81st minute, only for Kenan Karaman to find the net in the fourth minute of added time.

Nicolas Pepe played for 90 minutes as Ivory Coast drew 1-1 in a friendly with Belgium in Brussels. After a goalless first half, Michy Batshuayi broke the deadlock just eight minutes into the second period. With only three minutes remaining, Wilfried Zaha was brought down in the box, enabling Franck Kessie to convert the spot kick and draw the scores level.

Granit Xhaka played the first half of Switzerland’s 2-1 friendly defeat to Croatia in St Gallen on Wednesday night. Our midfielder provided the assist for the game’s opening goal, providing the ball for Mario Gavranovic to give the hosts the lead. Josip Brekalo hit back 11 minutes later to draw Croatia level going into the half-time interval. Xhaka was then replaced by Remo Freuler during the break, with Mario Pasalic’s 67th-minute strike proving enough to seal victory for the visitors.

Dani Ceballos played the first half of Spain’s 0-0 draw with Portugal in a friendly played in Lisbon. Our midfielder wore the number eight shirt for his country, before being replaced by Jose Campana at half-time.

Alex Runarsson was an unused substitute as Iceland won 2-1 at home to Romania in their EURO 2020 play-off in Reykjavik. Gylfi Sigurdsson scored both goals for the hosts, with Alexandru Maxim’s penalty proving not to be enough for the visitors to progress.

 

Lucas Torreira was an unused substitute in Uruguay’s 2-1 win over Chile in World Cup qualifying.

 

Matteo Guendouzi played 64 minutes as France’s under-21 side won 5-0 at home to Liechtestein in UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifying. Amine Gouri scored twice, with strikes from Jonathan Ikone, Romain Faivre and an own goal from Martix Marxer resulting in victory for Les Bleus.