The Assist is making a rare Thursday appearance in your inbox as the international break gets underway in earnest this evening. This new look, extended Sep-Oct FIFA window should give us a decent look at how some of the biggest footballing nations are tackling the post-World Cup fallout.

England return to action after a busy summer with the toughest possible test as they welcome newly crowned world champions Spain to Wembley for their opening 2026/27 Nations League fixture.

La Roja have featured in three of the previous four Nations League finals and haven’t lost a game of any kind for over two years. Earlier this week, coach Luis de la Fuente was handed a contract extension until 2032 as a reward for Spain’s recent dominance. 

Saturday’s matchup is a repeat of the last Euros final, which saw Spain claim a hard-fought 2-1 win to break English hearts. This pain, coupled with the lingering disappointment of that dramatic semi-final exit to Argentina in the World Cup, gives Thomas Tuchel’s men a much-needed shot at something like redemption.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿📋 You are the manager - Pick your own England XI with the FotMob line-up builder

Netherlands host historic rivals Germany in the Nations League this evening (Thursday), pitting two massive household names against each other in the dugout, with Xavi Hernández and Jürgen Klopp poised to make their debut in international management. 

In the World Cup, both powerhouses underachieved after being eliminated in the last 32 on penalties. After the tournament, Xavi and Klopp were parachuted in as potential saviours, each given four-year deals to take these former international greats back to where they belong. 

Xavi replaced Ronald Koeman, making the Spaniard the first foreign coach of the Netherlands since Ernst Happel in 1978, and has promised “intensity” and “passion” in a fresh, exciting dawn for the Oranje. 

Klopp is one of club football’s most decorated and charismatic managers, tasked with leading his native Germany back to the pinnacle after a period of mediocrity since Joachim Löw’s side lifted the 2014 World Cup.

Both appointments have been greeted with glowing positivity – with four games scheduled for this break, we’ll see how long that boundless optimism lasts!

🗣️ Xavi Hernández relishing the “great challenge” of facing Jürgen Klopp

Following a five-year hiatus from management, Zinedine Zidane returned to coaching in the summer when he was finally named Didier Deschamps’ successor and new boss of Les Bleus.

In his game-changing 14-year tenure, Deschamps guided France to their second World Cup triumph in 2018 after captaining his homeland to their first global title 20 years earlier.

The irrepressible Zizou also starred in that resounding 3-0 victory over Brazil in the 1998 final, finished as a runner-up in 2006, and won Euro 2000 as a player, then won three consecutive Champions Leagues as manager of Real Madrid between 2015 and 2018. 

Given his legacy, Kylian Mbappé has already described working under Zidane as “like something from a movie”, and the cameras will be rolling on Friday when France travel to Türkiye in the Nations League, before also taking on Belgium (twice) and Italy over this international break. 

🇫🇷🗣️ Read those Mbappé quotes in full

Brazil return to action following a disappointing World Cup campaign with three overseas friendlies.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side start off with a double-header against Australia in Australia, facing the Socceroos in Townsville then heading down the east coast to Brisbane.

These will be Brazil’s fourth and fifth games Down Under, their last visit in 2017 drawing a crowd of almost 50,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

After their Antipodean adventure, Brazil fly to India (currently ranked No.138 in the world) for an historic first-ever between those two nations.

And the Seleção can expect to arrive in style: the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has arranged for a private charter jet – with at least 30 fully reclining business-class seats (fancy) to fly them to Kolkata, where they’ll be able to skip the usual immigration queues.

“Brazil has some of the world’s best footballers and deserve special treatment,” a senior official involved in organising the game at the 68,000-capacity Salt Lake Stadium told the Times of India.

Patrick Vieira is back in management with Senegal, the country of his birth, and he’s preparing the Lions of Teranga for the beginning of their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.

The Arsenal and France icon starts his new job at home to Mozambique before a trip to Ethiopia. Speaking ahead of the international break, Vieira told reporters in Dakar: “Being head coach of the Senegal national team is an absolute dream. I was born here, my parents were born here, and it really is a homecoming.”

Senegal then have a hearing due at the Court of Arbitration for Sport on October 8, where they will dispute January’s highly controversial AFCON final – awarded to Morocco after Senegal had initially lifted the trophy.

While international footballers jet off around the world, it’s business as usual in the lower leagues.

And as such, we’re here to ask if this is the season Boreham Wood finally make it to the promised land of the EFL?

The Wood have endured play-off heartbreak four times since promotion to English football’s fifth tier in 2015, most recently losing last season’s Wembley final after being 2-0 up against Rochdale.

And given how they’ve started the new campaign under Luke Garrard – their manager for all but five months of the last 11 years – an historic promotion to League Two is in their sights again.

Despite having some of the lowest attendances in the division (averaging 1,200 last season), the Hertfordshire club are flying right now. They’ve set the early pace by winning seven and drawing two of their opening nine games.

That’s even after losing star man Abdul Abdulmalik to Swedish side Djurgården for a £1.5 million record fee last month.

But with the prolific Matt Rush leading the line (he’s scored nine in nine), they’re already three points clear at the top. They’ll back themselves to extend their unbeaten start away to struggling Solihull Moors on Saturday.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿📈 Follow the National League on FotMob!

Thursday: As you’ll have read, the 2026/27 Nations League starts today! Netherlands vs. Germany is the headliner in League A, pitting as it does, Xavi Hernández against Jürgen Klopp in what is both manager’s debut game.

Elsewhere, we’ll see what role Cristiano Ronaldo plays in Jorge Jesus’ first Portugal side as prepare to face Wales in Lisbon. So far, it’s been reported that he will start. Norway play their first game since their record breaking World Cup run, with friendly rivals Denmark the visitors.

Two continental giants clash as Ivory Coast take on Ghana in an intriguing AFCON qualifier, and there’s further group stage action at the Gulf Cup for the likes of Iran and Qatar.

Friday: The Zizou era gets underway as France play under new management for the first time since 2012. Les Bleus start their Nations League campaign in Türkiye. Roberto Mancini is back for a second spell as head coach of Italy, with the 2020 Euros winner due to lead out his side against Belgium at the Stadio Olimpico.

Brazil play the first of two friendlies against Australia’s Socceroos, and back in AFCON qualifiers, both finalists in the last final play their opening group games. Morocco, who are now ranked No. 6 in the world face Gabon, while Patrick Viera takes his bow as manager of Senegal when they host Mozambique.

Saturday: Freshly crowned World Champions Spain head to Wembley, where they take on England, Thomas Tuchel’s beaten World Cup semi-finalists. And in League B of the Nations League, Scotland start their campaign away to Slovenia.

We will cast a customary eye over San Marino’s game against Finland as the world’s lowest ranked nation continue their eternal hunt for a competitive win. And those of a certain age with an interest in international relations may be interested in the Gulf Cup clash between Kuwait and Iraq.

While the CONCACAF Nations League rages for most nations in the region, Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT start a series of friendlies with a game against Peru in Orlando.

Sunday: We’re back to where we started, with both Germany and Netherlands playing the second games in their Nations League group - Klopp leads Die Mannschaft for the first time at home as they play Greece, and the Dutch are in Serbia.

Norway are at home again, this time against Portugal. Down in League B, there’s the much-talked about clash between Israel and Ireland, a game being played in Hungary in the midst of a grassroots campaign back in Ireland calling for the FA to refuse to play the scheduled return game on home soil.

And over in the CONCACAF Nations League, Curaçao, the cult heroes of the 2026 World Cup play a homecoming game against Nicaragua. We expect a huge outpouring of joy at that one.

With international tournaments in full swing, you might want to double-check your match feed.

To catch all the scores for the games we’ve mentioned in this newsletter, we suggest taking some time to ‘Follow’ any tournaments you want to keep track of. This can all be sorted out in the Leagues tab where you can use the edit feature to fully customise your feed.

For full instructions, check out the link below.

📲 The official guide on how to add and hide leagues on FotMob

🇧🇷📈 Raphinha’s omission from the long list of Ballon d’Or nominees feels like an oversight

🇫🇷🆕 France prepare for brave new era under the iconic Zinedine Zidane

🇺🇸👶 Mauricio Pochettino opts for young new talent in latest USMNT squad