The September international break is a busy time for our players as they take part in World Cup qualifiers and friendly games. Here’s a look at how things have gone so far for the 25 professional and Academy players involved, with the likes of England’s Isaac Price and Liverpool’s Nadiem Amiri making impressive returns to action for their national teams.
The first round of World Cup qualifiers came to a close on Tuesday as Japan and Iran sealed their spots in the next stage. The first two in each of the four groups will progress to the play-offs, where they will face the top seed from the other three confederations (UEFA, CONMEBOL and AFC) to decide the final four places at the tournament.
The race is well under way in Africa, where a handful of the continent’s top teams have put themselves in a strong position to qualify automatically for 2022. Egypt and Tunisia are both in second place in their groups, with both aiming to secure automatic qualification by finishing top or reaching the inter-confederation playoffs. Morocco, the lowest-ranked team in the group, are also in a good position to qualify. They are three points behind leaders Slovakia in second place and face a crucial match against Germany next month. The winner will go through to the play-offs, where they’ll meet either Belgium or Switzerland. The winners of the play-offs will go through to the final in Qatar.