More late heartbreak for Scotland: Six things you might have missed from the international break so far | OneFootball

Games have come thick and fast in the October international break.

Across the globe football fans have been treated to matches in the Uefa Nations League, Africa Cup of Nations qualification and World Cup qualifying. With a lot of matches going on and a lot of time zones, there’s no way for fans to keep up with everything.

So that’s where we come in. As always, Squawka are here to sort you out with all the stats and stories you might have missed from the international break so far.

More late heartbreak for Scotland

Scotland must be getting fed up with the Uefa Nations League. Promoted to League A, Scotland were handed a tough group alongside Portugal, Poland and Croatia. Scotland are ranked 52nd in the world, 22 below Poland, with Croatia (12) and Portugal (eight) among the top sides in the world.

They’ve made a good showing of themselves so far, going toe-to-toe with all three teams. But, after three games, Scotland sit bottom of the group with three defeats. They’ve all been heartbreaking too.

In Scotland’s first game, they conceded a penalty in the seventh minute of second-half injury time to lose 3-2 to Poland. Against Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the 88th minute to seal a 2-1 win, with Scotland having taken the lead.

Against Croatia, the heartbreak was of a different kind. Scotland took the lead but then trailed and looked set for their third defeat. In the fourth minute of second-half injury time, things changed as Scotland put the ball in the back of the net. It was the equaliser their performance deserved. Che Adams played his part, but it was going down as an own goal for Kristijan Jakic.

But there was a wait after the goal was scored. VAR were checking and, after a few minutes, confirmed that Adams had strayed offside in the move. Goal disallowed and the point lost.

Erling Haaland’s history

Another game, another record broken for Erling Haaland. Boring.

This one was a big one. Despite being just 24, Haaland is now the all-time record goalscorer for the Norwegian men’s national team. In his 36th appearance for the senior side, Haaland scored his 34th goal.

Now, 34 goals may not be too high for an international team, but Norway are a nation that don’t often get the benefits of playing more games in major tournaments.

The record was previously held by Jorgen Juve, a man who played his last game for Norway in 1937. In the 85 years that past, the likes of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, John Carew and Tore Andre Flo all tried and failed to climb the rankings.

But this is Haaland, the cyborg built to break records.

A first for France

The Uefa Nations League got back underway with teams in League A looking to take a step closer to the final. In Group A2, France, Italy and Belgium are all vying for the two qualifying places, while trying to avoid the relegation play-off spot.

France had the benefit of playing the fourth team in the group on Thursday, facing Israel. Les Bleus needed to win to capitalise on any dropped points by Italy, Belgium or both in their match. And they were comfortable in their 4-1 win.

Israel did equalise after Edouardo Camavinga’s early goal, but Christopher Nkunku put France back ahead before half-time. It’s a lead France would eventually make greater, but this was a significant moment for Nkunku.

The Chelsea man has had a stuttered life as a French international, missing the 2022 World Cup through injury and then sitting out of Euro 2024. This October international break saw Nkunku return to the France squad, and he finally got his first goal.

Nkunku started on the left side of France’s front four, just the fourth time he had begun a match for his national team from 10 appearances over all. What a way to celebrate his return.

Arsenal target’s dream debut

Brazil look to have their World Cup qualifying campaign back on track.

It feels like it was always going to be hard for Brazil to not qualify for the 2026 World Cup. With the expanded tournament, six of Conmebol’s 10 teams will automatically qualify, with a seventh making the inter-confederation play-offs. Even a subpar Brazil should have had enough to at least finish sixth.

The Selecao now sit fourth in the table after four wins from their opening nine games. They got their fourth win against Chile this week, but they had to fight from behind to secure the 2-1 victory.

Eduardo Vargas opened the scoring for Chile in the second minute and Luiz Henrique won it for Brazil in the 89th. But this one was all about the equaliser, and what it meant for the scorer.

Igor Jesus was making his debut for Brazil in an interesting starting XI, showing where the nation is at the moment. The 23-year-old was one of five players in the lineup with under 10 caps for Brazil, with Abner also making his debut at left-back. Although it’s worth noting that another of the five was Arsenal’s Gabriel, who has just been a victim of playing behind Marquinhos and Thiago Silva.

And Gabriel might be taking some notes of Igor Jesus’ debut goal with him back to Arsenal. According to reports, the Gunners are interested in Igor Jesus with Edu following the striker closely.

Igor Jesus joined Botafogo from UAE Pro League side Shabab Al-Ahli in the summer and has started life back in Brazil well. He has scored five goals in 13 league games, with an xG of 4.01.

Pitch problems hamper Argentina

While Brazil were winning, Argentina’s winless streak in World Cup qualifying has stretched to two matches. The reigning world champions lead the way in Conmebol’s round robin, with 19 points from their opening nine games.

There have been six wins and just a few wobbles, with two coming in their past two matches. First, Argentina were beaten by second-placed Colombia in the September international break. And now they’ve had to settle with a draw against Venezuela.

Nicolas Otamendi opened the scoring for Argentina early on, though Salomon Rondon equalised for the hosts in the second half. While a point on the road kept Argentina top of the table, Lionel Messi was not happy with the playing surface.

“It was very difficult, it makes for very ugly matches,” Messi told TyC.

“We could not complete two passes in a row. In the second half we did it on the right a little more, but it is difficult to play like that. Very little is played.”

He added: “We tied because the field didn’t help us do what we wanted, we had to do another game than the one prepared for. But we were prepared because we fought, won the battles, played with the error of the rival.

“We couldn’t risk much by playing with passes to the back. In the first half we made a couple passes to the back and the water would stop it, and complicated it. We did the game we could with the water.”

Undav continues Fullkrug impression

Everyone remembers Niclas Fullkrug’s blistering start to life in the German national team. The striker scored six goals in his first six games for Germany, despite only starting three of those matches. This for a man making his Germany debut just a few months before his 30th birthday.

Deniz Undav isn’t as old as Fullkrug was, making his debut in March, just a few months before he turned 28. But it’s still a late debut for the Stuttgart striker, who shone on loan from Brighton last season before making the move permanent.

His performances earned him a call up for Germany, including at Euro 2024. And in five appearances for Die Mannschaft, Undav has three goals.

Now, the route to goals was slightly more delayed for Undav, who didn’t score in his first three appearances — all of which came from the bench. But Undav has started his last two matches, scoring in both.

And against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday night Undav bagged a brace. They were crucial goals too, giving Germany a lead that Bosnia-Herzegovina wouldn’t be able to overcome in the eventual 2-1 win for Julian Nagelsmann’s side.

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