No fewer than eight Fulham players were in action during the international break this week.
George Williams’ promising start to his Wales career continued. The 19-year-old lined up alongside Gareth Bale against Cyprus and played an hour as Wales won 2-1 to go top of Group B.
Greek pair Kostas Mitroglou, on loan to Olympiacos, and Kostas Stafylidis had a night to forget as they lost 2-0 at home to Northern Ireland to leave them fifth in Group F.
Also in Group F, Jesse Joronen watched on from the bench as Finland lost 2-0 at home to Romania, while Gábor Király wasn’t able to add to his 91 caps for Hungary as they beat the Faroe Islands 1-0.
Elsad Zverotić didn’t have a successful night for Montenegro, picking up a yellow card before being subbed in the 70th minute during his side’s 1-0 loss to Austria in Group G.
Alexander Kacaniklic, on-loan to FC Copenhagen, wasn’t able to get on the pitch for Sweden as they beat minnows Liechtenstein to leapfrog Montenegro into third.
Nikolay Bodurov’s did score his first international goal for Bulgaria, but it wasn’t enough to stop them losing 2-1 to Norway and they remain fourth in Group H.
Outside of Europe, Bryan Ruiz set-up a goal during Costa Rica’s impressive 3-1 friendly win over South Korea.
At Under-23 level, Emerson Hyndman played an hour of USA’s heavy 3-0 loss to their Brazilian counterparts. It was the 18-year-old’s first appearance at that level.
All three players involved in the European Under-21 Championship qualifiers had nights to remember as their respective nations qualified.
Marcelo Trotta was an unused substitute in Italy’s 3-1 victory against Slovakia.
They will be joined at the championships by England, who beat Croatia 2-1 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate, although Cauley Woodrow didn’t get on the pitch.
Denmark qualified through away goals, drawing 1-1 on the night with Iceland. Lasse Vigen Christensen, fresh from scoring his first goal for Fulham, played the whole 90 minutes.
Two players were also on duty for their country’s Under-19 sides.
Patrick Roberts showed why he is one of the highest-rated players of his generation, scoring twice as England put eight unanswered goals past Luxembourg.
However, elsewhere in the UEFA Under-19’s qualifiers, Moussa Dembele was unable to impact the game during France’s goalless draw with Bosnia.
Finally, in the Asian Football Confederation Under-19 championships, Cameron Burgess played the full 90 minutes as Australia Under 19’s continued their unbeaten start with a 1-0 win over Indonesia and a 1-1 draw with Uzbekistan.
Feature image courtesy of Treevis, with thanks
