Rice and Havertz on the scoresheet, Gabriel wins

Declan Rice played a huge role in England’s 2-0 win against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin as he scored one and assisted another to get the Three Lions’ Nations League campaign off to the perfect start.

The former Republic midfielder netted 11 minutes on his return to the Aviva Stadium when he arrowed a shot into the top corner to score his fourth goal for England, and then 15 minutes later he combined with Bukayo Saka to set up Jack Grealish to take the game away from their opponents.

On an impressive display, Declan had 106 touches, completed all of his take-ons, recorded a 95% pass completion rate and created three chances during the game at the Aviva Stadium, and speaking post-match, he said: “Today I feel like I took a real step. I was feeling back to myself, feeling springy, feeling like I can run around the pitch, feeling more powerful.

“I feel like I took another step, which is obviously going to help me at Arsenal. I felt really good, and I knew I needed a big performance.”

He and Bukayo played the whole game, and now have another game against Finland at Wembley to look forward to on Tuesday.

Kai Havertz also got on the scoresheet, carrying his fine goalscoring form into this international break. He netted an 81st-minute penalty to put the gloss on his team’s 5-0 win against Hungary - his third goal in his last six internationals, taking his tally up to 19 in 52 caps.

Two Gunners went head to head on Friday night as Riccardo Calafiori’s Italy recorded a fine 3-1 win over France in Paris. Both he and William Saliba started the game but while Le Bleus took a first-minute lead, the Azzurri netted twice before Riccardo was forced off with an injury in the 71st minute.

William remained on the field for the entirety but Giacomo Raspadori sealed the win with the visitors’ third goal. However, Riccardo’s problem has seen him drop out of Italy’s squad ahead of their game against Israel on Monday.

David Raya ended his international break with two caps and four points as Spain bounced back from their goalless draw against Serbia to beat Switzerland 4-1 in Geneva. La Roja were 2-0 ahead before Robin Le Normand was dismissed, but after Zeki Ambouni beat David in the 41st minute, the European champions eventually pulled away again with strikes from Fabian Ruiz and Ferran Torres.

Over in Brazil, Gabriel helped give Brazil’s 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign a boost by helping them beat Ecuador 1-0. Rodrygo’s goal settled the result, but our defender made a crucial intervention in first-half stoppage time when he blocked a Moises Casciedo shot on the line to keep his sheet clean.

That was his eighth appearance for the Selecao, with the three points helping them up to fourth in the standings as they aim to make it to the finals.

Back in Nations League action, Jurrien Timber made his first Netherlands appearance since March 2023 and it was a momentous occasion for his family, as his twin brother Quintin also appeared late on in their 5-2 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

That marked the first time they had appeared for the full national side together, and afterwards Jurrien posted this emotional post on Twitter:

Martin Odegaard played 90 minutes of Norway’s goalless draw against Kazakhstan, but despite the frustrating result our midfielder still impressed, completing 63 of his 71 passes and creating four chances, but his side failed to take one and ended up with a point.

Oleksandr Zinchenko was a late introduction off the bench but couldn’t prevent Ukraine falling to a 2-1 defeat against Albania, while Jakub Kiwior was an unused sub in Poland’s 1-0 loss away in Croatia.

Gunners in international action

Thursday, September 5
Ghana 0-1 Angola | AFCON qualifier
Partey played 90 minutes

Serbia 0-0 Spain | Nations League
Raya played 90 minutes

Scotland 2-3 Poland | Nations League
Kiwior played 45 minutes

Friday, September 6
Kazakhstan 0-0 Norway | Nations League
Odegaard played 90 minutes

France 1-3 Italy | Nations League
Saliba played 90 minutes
Calafirori played 71 minutes

Saturday, September 7
Brazil 1-0 Ecuador | World Cup qualifier
Gabriel played 90 minutes

Republic of Ireland 0-2 England | Nations League
Rice played 90 minutes - scored and assisted
Saka played 90 minutes

Netherlands 5-2 Bosnia | Nations League
Timber played 24 minutes off the bench

Germany 5-0 Hungary | Nations League
Havertz plated 90 minutes, scored

Ukraine 1-2 Albania | Nations League
Zinchenko played 9 minutes off the bench

Sunday, September 8
Switzerland 1-4 Spain | Nations League
Raya played 90 minutes

Croatia 1-0 Poland | Nations League
Kiwior was an unused sub

Monday, September 9
Niger v Ghana (Partey)
AFCON qualifier | Berkane, Morocco | 4pm

Norway (Odegaard) v Austria
Nations League | Oslo | 7.45pm

France (Saliba) v Belgium
Nations League | Lyon | 7.45pm

Tuesday, September 10
England (Saka, Rice) v Finland
Nations League | London | 7.45pm

Netherlands (Timber) v Germany (Havertz)
Nations League | Amsterdam | 7.45pm

Czech Republic v Ukraine (Zinchenko)
Nations League | Prague | 7.45pm

Wednesday, September 11
Paraguay v Brazil (Gabriel)
World Cup qualifier | Asuncion | 1.30am