With no top-flight club football competition in Europe, all eyes turned elsewhere this weekend, bringing the spotlight to international football. It was thrilling to witness players donning their national team kits and showcasing their talents on the international stage.

One of the most intriguing aspects for fans is witnessing club teammates facing off as international rivals. This dynamic adds an extra layer of excitement to the game, as familiar faces become opponents on the field.

Moreover, observing players adapt or readapt to different systems, alongside teammates and managers undergoing similar adjustments, adds depth to the experience. It’s fascinating to see how players seamlessly transition between club and international football, showcasing their versatility and adaptability on a global stage.

A summary of the international football results:

🇧🇷 Brazil secured a victory against 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England at Wembley.
🇺🇸 The United States narrowly advanced to the CONCACAF Nations League final against 🇯🇲 Jamaica and then convincingly won the final against 🇲🇽 Mexico.
🇨🇦 Canada and 🇨🇷 Costa Rica confirmed their places in the 2024 Copa America.
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales, 🇵🇱 Poland, 🇺🇦 Ukraine, 🇮🇸 Iceland, 🇬🇪 Georgia, and 🇬🇷 Greece are each one win away from securing a place in the 2024 Euro.

Thursday, March 21, 2024

AFC WCQ

Australia, Iraq, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar maintained their perfect winning starts.

Group A : Qatar (9) | India (4) | Kuwait (3) | Afghanistan (1)
Qatar secured their third win by defeating Kuwait with a score of three goals to none, while India played a goalless draw with bottom-ranked Afghanistan.

Group B : Japan (9) | Syria (4) | North Korea (3) | Myanmar (1)
Japan clinched their third consecutive win by defeating North Korea, while Myanmar and Syria settled for a 1-all draw, sharing the points.

Group C : South Korea (7) | Thailand (4) | China (4) | Singapore (1)
There were no victors as South Korea dropped points for the first time in a 1-all draw against Thailand, while Singapore and China finished with a 2-2 draw.

Group D : Oman (6) | Kyrgyzstan (6) | Malaysia (6) | Chinese Taipei (0)
Malaysia lost to Oman, while Kyrgyzstan beat Chinese Taipei, resulting in a three-way tie in points with Oman, Kyrgyzstan, and Malaysia each on 6 points.

Group E : Iran (7) | Uzbekistan (7) | Hong Kong (1) | Turkmenistan (1)
Iran and Uzbekistan secured wins to maintain their lead over Turkmenistan and Hong Kong.

Group F : Iraq (9) | Indonesia (4) | Vietnam (3) | Philippines (1)
Iraq remained perfect with three wins out of three, defeating the Philippines, while Indonesia also secured a win against Vietnam. Both games ended 1-0.

Group G : Saudi Arabia (9) | Tajikistan (4) | Jordan (4) | Pakistan (0)
Saudi Arabia secured their third win by defeating Tajikistan 1-0, while Jordan won 3-0 against Pakistan.

Group H : United Arab Emirates (9) | Bahrain (6) | Yemen (3) | Nepal (0)
The United Arab Emirates leads with 3 wins after defeating Yemen 2-1, while Bahrain also defeated Nepal 5-0.

Group I : Australia (9) | Palestine (4) | Lebanon (2) | Bangladesh (1)
Australia won their third match by defeating Lebanon 2-0, while Palestine thrashed Bangladesh 5-0.

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EURO QUALIFIER PLAYOFF ROUND SEMIFINALS

It wasn’t a feel-good story for the underdogs. Of the 6 nations that were seeking to qualify for their first-ever Euro, only one (Georgia) advanced to the qualifier playoff final. They achieved this by eliminating one of the 6, Luxembourg.
Greece, Poland, Wales, and Iceland secured wins by a significant margin to advance to the semifinals.
Ukraine was the lone semifinalist to secure victory by a narrow margin, with a 2-1 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

🇵🇱 Poland 5-1 🇪🇪 Estonia
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales 4-1 🇫🇮 Finland
🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-2 🇺🇦 Ukraine
🇮🇱 Israel 1-4 🇮🇸 Iceland
🇬🇪 Georgia 2-0 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
🇬🇷 Greece 5-0 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan

There is a place in the 2024 Euro for Poland or Wales, Iceland or Ukraine, and Georgia or Greece.

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CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE SEMIFINALS

🇺🇸 United States 3-1 🇯🇲 Jamaica
🇵🇦 Panama 0-3 🇲🇽 Mexico

Jamaica took the lead in the first minute and seemed poised to enter the final before conceding in the final seconds of the match, leading to extra time. In extra time, they fell behind by two goals, ultimately losing 3-1 to the United States. The United States are once again in the CONCACAF Nations League final, aiming to defend their title for the third consecutive time. Their opponent will be Mexico.

Mexico, on the other hand, had a smoother path to the final. They defeated Panama 3-0 within regulation time, avoiding any dramatic moments.

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Friday, March 22, 2024

Nigeria secures a 2-1 victory over Ghana.
Chile triumphs over Albania with a scoreline of 3-0.
Scotland perhaps deserved more from the game than a 4-0 defeat to the Netherlands.
Colombia defeats Spain, with the goal scored by Daniel Munoz and assisted by Luis Diaz.
Argentina delivers a dominant performance, clinching a 3-0 win against El Salvador.

RESULTS FROM SOME INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY MATCHES PLAYED ON THE DAY:

🇳🇬 Nigeria 2-1 🇬🇭 Ghana
🇸🇳 Senegal 3-0 🇬🇦 Gabon
🇳🇱 Netherlands 4-0 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland
🇦🇱 Albania 0-3 🇨🇱 Chile
🇪🇸 Spain 0-1 🇨🇴 Colombia
🇳🇴 Norway 1-2 🇨🇿 Czechia
🇪🇬 Egypt 1-0 New Zealand
🇲🇦 Morocco 1-0 🇦🇴 Angola
🇩🇿 Algeria 3-2 🇧🇴 Bolivia
🇸🇻 El Salvador 0-3 🇦🇷 Argentina
🇵🇪 Peru 2-0 🇳🇮 Nicaragua

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CONCACAF World Cup Qualification – First Round

🇦🇮 Anguilla 0-0 🇹🇨 Turks and Caicos Islands
🇻🇮 US Virgin Islands 1-1 🇻🇬 British Virgin Islands

There is still the return fixture (March 26, 2024) to decide which two nations will go into the second round. One of the Virgin Islands will be in Group E; 🇻🇮 US Virgin Islands 1-1 🇻🇬 British Virgin Islands, and it will be either 🇦🇮 Anguilla or 🇹🇨 Turks and Caicos Islands in Group F.
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Saturday, March 23, 2024

RESULTS FROM SOME INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY MATCHES PLAYED ON THE DAY:

🇨🇮 Ivory Coast 2-2 🇧🇯 Benin
🇮🇪 Ireland 0-0 🇧🇪 Belgium
🇩🇰 Denmark 0-0 🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇸🇰 Slovakia 0-2 🇦🇹 Austria
🇫🇷 France 0-2 🇩🇪 Germany
🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-0 🇭🇷 Croatia**
🇲🇼 Malawi 0-4 🇰🇪 Kenya
🇿🇲 Zambia 2-2 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe**
(** = won through penalty shootout)

The heavyweight matchups saw France hosting Germany, and England hosting Brazil. In both games, the visitors emerged victorious.

Germany secured a 2-0 win, initiated by Florian Writz’s goal in the first 30 seconds.

In a match between England and Brazil at Wembley Stadium, 17-year-old Endrick entered as a substitute and scored the only goal of the game, giving Brazil a 1-0 victory. Despite missing a chance to score a brace at the end due to lack of composure, Endrick’s performance highlights Brazil’s promising young talent.

In another match, Evan Ferguson’s penalty kick was saved, denying Ireland what could have been the only goal against Belgium, resulting in a goalless draw.

The current Africa Cup of Nations title holders came from behind twice to salvage a 2-2 draw against Benin, avoiding defeat.

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CONCACAF NATION LEAGUE PLAYOFF PROMOTION:

🇨🇦 Canada 2-0 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
🇨🇷 Costa Rica 3-1 🇭🇳 Honduras

Canada and Costa Rica picked up wins to qualify and complete the list of six teams from the CONCACAF region who will join the 10 CONMEBOL nations in the 2024 Copa America.

THE 2024 COPA AMERICA GROUPS:

Group A: 🇦🇷 Argentina, 🇵🇪 Peru, 🇨🇱 Chile, and 🇨🇦 Canada
Group B: 🇲🇽 Mexico, 🇪🇨 Ecuador, 🇻🇪 Venezuela, and 🇯🇲 Jamaica
Group C: 🇺🇸 United States, 🇺🇾 Uruguay, 🇵🇦 Panama, and 🇧🇴 Bolivia
Group D: 🇧🇷 Brazil, 🇨🇴 Colombia, 🇵🇾 Paraguay, 🇨🇷 Costa Rica

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Sunday, March 24, 2024

CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE

(semifinal)
🇯🇲 Jamaica 0-1 🇵🇦 Panama

In the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal, Jamaica faced off against Panama, with the latter emerging victorious with a narrow 1-0 win. Dexter Lembikisa found the back of the net for Panama, scoring the game’s lone goal in the 42nd minute. As a result, Jamaica secured third place in the tournament.

(final)
🇺🇸 United States 2-0 🇲🇽 Mexico

“Dos a cero”
In the CONCACAF Nations League final, the United States faced off against Mexico, securing a 2-0 victory. This marks the third CONCACAF Nations League final, with the United States emerging victorious in all three, defeating Mexico on two occasions.

The breakthrough came in the 45th minute when Tyler Adams scored a stunning goal, putting United States in a 1-0 lead at halftime. The lead was extended in the 63rd minute with Giovanni Reyna finding the back of the net. Neither of the goalscorers played the full 90 minutes.

The United States has extended their unbeaten streak against Mexico to 7 straight meetings, with 5 wins and 2 draws. This remarkable run marks the longest unbeaten streak in the history of the rivalry.