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The Assist guide to the international break
As league football takes a rest, 2026 World Cup qualifying takes priority for your favourite national teams
Don’t let the international break pass you by. FotMob can keep you up to date with all the important moments to watch out for, with key qualifiers coming up in Europe, South America, Africa, and elsewhere.
UEFA WCQs
Thomas Tuchel’s 100% competitive record in charge of England’s Three Lions will be put to the test over the next few days. Possibly not in Saturday’s home game against Andorra, but almost certainly when England then go away to Serbia in Belgrade on Tuesday night.
England currently top Group K with three wins from three.
Elsewhere, those teams who were involved in the recent Nations League Finals are just getting their qualification campaigns underway:
-Germany made a shocking start as they fell to a 2-0 defeat in Slovakia on Thursday night. Julian Nagelsmann will be looking to bounce back, with Northern Ireland next up on Sunday evening.
-European champions Spain started well - scoring three goals in the first 40 minutes of their trip to Bulgaria. In a four-team group, every result matters, so Sunday’s fixture against Türkiye will be worth following.
-2022’s beaten finalists France are in action tonight, playing Ukraine in their temporary home on Polish soil, while Nations League winners Portugal have to wait until Saturday for their first game, which comes away to Armenia.
-And in Group I, Italy are preparing for two crucial fixtures over the weekend. Having already played two qualifiers, and lost one of those to Norway, they find themselves at risk of missing out on what would be a third straight World Cup finals. Anything other than six points from games against Estonia (tonight) and away to Israel (Monday) could be disastrous.
With four wins from four in a five team group, the whole of Norway (not least the FotMob office in Bergen) is dreaming of a first World Cup finals appearance in 28 years. Erling Haaland and co. will be keen to see whether Italy do indeed drop any points during this window, while they themselves look to maintain their 100% record when they face Moldova, in Oslo, on Tuesday.
CONMEBOL WCQs
While European nations are just getting starting, the mammoth South American World Cup qualification group has now been running since September 2023! But with 17 of the 18 rounds played, everything is as you would expect it to be.
Argentina top the 10-team group, with Lionel Messi having scored twice in what was probably his last home competitive international - a 3-0 victory over Venezuela on Thursday night. Carlo Ancelotti’s slightly more experimental Brazilian side now sit second in the group after beating Chile by the same scoreline.
Results for Uruguay, Colombia, and Paraguay mean that all six automatic qualification births are now filled, with Ecuador the other nation already through.
The only remaining question is who will take seventh place in the group, and progress to FIFA’s Inter-federation playoffs; Venezuela or Bolivia?
In Tuesday’s final round La Vinotinto start one point better off and face a Colombia team with nothing to play for. Bolivia host Brazil but will be hoping their notoriously high altitude home ground will act as their 12th man.
CAF WCQs
A number of African’s most successful footballing nations are close to sealing their place at next year’s finals. And with only the winners from each of the nine qualifying groups guaranteed to progress, sides like 2022 semifinalists Morocco, Egypt, and Algeria will be gunning to get the results they need to wrap things up this week.
South Africa have a commanding five point lead in their group, and in one of the most eye catching fixtures of the window, they could heap further misery on Nigeria’s Super Eagles when the two meet on Tuesday. Nigeria are currently six points off the pace and down in fourth having played the same number of games.
There could, however, be a fairytale story brewing in Group D. Here, Cape Verde lead the way, with results on Thursday night keeping them ahead of group favourites Cameroon. The two play one another in a potential group decider, again on Tuesday, with the Cape Verdeans from the archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic ocean stealing themselves for the final push towards a first ever finals qualification.
Pro Tip: Click on any of the match links below, then tap the star in the top right of the match page to automatically add them to the top of your match feed.
Australasian Double Header: With both already qualified for the 2026 World Cup by alternative means - Australia via the Asian federation and New Zealand as the top team left in the OFC qualification process, there’s time for the two island nations to play each other twice during this window. The Socceroos host first, in a game that has probably kicked off by the time you read this newsletter, and then it’s all back to Auckland on Tuesday.
USMNT take on AFC finalists: Mauricio Pochettino’s US side continue their preparations for next year’s home World Cup with friendlies against two nations who impressed as they secured their place at the finals. South Korea are up first, on Saturday, with the Taegeuk Warriors currently unbeaten in 14 competitive games. Then the US play Japan, on Tuesday, the only side who outscored the Koreans across the lengthy AFC qualification process.
CanMNT on tour: Fellow 2026 host nation, Canada, have gone in a different direction for this international break. Jesse Marsch’s troops are in Europe for back-to-back friendlies - away to Romania on Friday, before they then head to Swansea to face Wales on Tuesday evening.
Cremonese are not a glamorous name in Italian football but the newly promoted side have started the season with back-to-back wins and now boast a striker who just loves an underdog story.
Bayern Munich’s new wide pairing have started the new season on fire, with five goals and two assists between them in the first two rounds of the Bundesliga. That’s enough to get Graham Ruthven waxing lyrical about Bayern wingers of the not so distance past.
“Four assists Jack Grealish? Thats’s insane!” Some loan moves just make sense. And the sight of Everton giving one of England’s more mercurial talents the freedom to roam at will has been a welcome one since the Premier League restart.
Stay on top of the latest FIFA rankings by checking the team page for your favourite nations. Click the graph or the line below the country name to see all the current rankings.