Hooligan’s Guide to the International Break – September

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Hooligan Soccer

·1 September 2025

Hooligan’s Guide to the International Break – September

After only three weeks of delicious, invigorating European league soccer… hit the pause button.

The International break is upon us, a mandatory global hiatus for all major (men’s) leagues across the globe. Those privileged players called up to perform for their country get to rack up serious frequent flyer miles. Club managers bite their cuticles anxiously, hoping their stars don’t get injured.

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Here’s what you can expect in terms of games from today (Monday) through Thursday.

Monday, September 1

This is generally considered a travel & recovery day. No major international teams have scheduled ties. There’s a FA Cup qualifier between Abbey Hulton United and Sutton Coldfield Town. It’s safe to say neither side has any national team call-ups on the roster.

The NWSL features Angel City hosting Bay FC. Remember, the women’s game proceeds normally. They operate under a different international window. Other than a handful of lower league spots, it’s pretty slow soccer day globally.

Tuesday, September 2

There’s a touch bit more on the agenda.

Kuwait and Lebanon will play a friendly match! Now there’s some international action! Not.
The FA Cup puts all the preliminary rounds behind them, having winnowed 495 clubs down to 136 over 359 fixtures. They also handed out £596,300 of cheques to the participating sides, win or lose. Teams from the 7th level of the pyramid now enter the fray in the first qualifying round. There are twenty fixtures. I’m rooting for Real Bedford, whose crest is a skull and crossbones. Yar, go pirates!
Not to be outdone, the EFL Trophy competition is also hosting twenty matches.
For the National League (both North and South divisions) it’s business as usual. Twenty-three league ties here.
In the Netherlands, the KNVB Bekal Round 1 starts with sixteen games. It’s the opening salvo of the Dutch Cup.

Wednesday, September 3

Frankly, it’s another snoozer of day, other than that hotly anticipated friendly between Qatar and Bahrain!

European regional league cup competitions (like the FA Cup above) are scheduled for Denmark, Estonia, Japan, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkïye and continue for the Netherlands.

The USL Championship sees Hartford Athletic take on Indy Eleven. USL 1 has two league matches.

The African Confederation (CAF) opens round 7 of their World Cup qualifying. Seychelles host Gabon, in what is as close to a guaranteed win for the visitors. Seychelles have lost every game, have a -28 goal differential and are already eliminated. I’m not sure LAFC star Denis Bouanga will lace up his boots for this one.

Thursday, September 4

The break kicks into high gear today, serving up all the matches in (almost) every continent.

CAF (Africa) Thirteen scheduled matches. Here are the ones to watch, since they can impact the group standings: Tunisia vs. Liberia Mali vs. Comoros Algeria vs Botswana
UEFA (Europe) Eight fixtures today, including Netherlands vs. Poland and Germany vs. Slovakia
CONCACAF (North America & the Caribbean) The third (and final) round of qualification starts. Three groups of four teams play double round-robin games. Group winner goes to the World Cup. Today’s Group A matches are: Suriname hosts Panama El Salvador takes on Guatemala
CONMEBOL (South America) They finally inch closer to the qualifying finish line that started back in September 2023 (no joke) All ten teams play. As Argentina has already qualified, and Messi is probably still angry about Inter Miami’s gut-wrenching loss to Seattle, he won’t play. Sorry, all. This gives Venezuela a chance to gain some much-needed points. Colombia vs. Bolivia is the only other fixture that could have impact on qualifications.