International Update...

Another great week of international football comes to an end and it was a momentous one for a couple of nations.

CONMEBOL WORLD CUP QUALIFYING
Argentina had long booked their WC26 place, and have now been joined by Ecuador and Brazil. It wasn't pretty, after a 0-0 draw between the pair in the first game Ecuador sealed their place with another 0-0 in Peru. That is their 3rd goalless draw in a row. Brazil managed to net in their second game, a 1-0 win over Paraguay.
Paraguay and Uruguay are agonisingly close. Paraguay won 2-0 when the 2 nations met in the first game of the week. The defeat to Brazil, combined with Uruguay beating Venezuela, means they are both on 24 points - 6 ahead of 7th with 2 games left.
Colombia have suffered a dramatic decline after looking nailed on for qualification a year ago. Draws against Peru and Argentina this week means 6 winless games. Last night they were just 10 minutes away from a vital win against 10 men Argentina, but slipped up and now have work to do in September.
Venezuela and Bolivia still have hopes of catching Colombia, although may be fighting for the 7th place that gives an inter-confederation play off place. In a quirk of the fixtures, Bolivia play in Colombia before the campaign ends with Colombia away to Venezuela.


ASIAN WORLD CUP QUALIFYING
Stage 3 ended with Uzbekistan and Jordan securing a World Cup debut. They finished runners-up to Iran and South Korea respectively. Australia made sure of the 6th qualifying spot by beating Saudi Arabia, joining Japan from group C.

UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia now progress to stage 4. They will be drawn into two groups of three teams, with the group winners sealing WCQ. The two second placed teams will go into a play-off to get a play-off place in the inter-confeds...

CONCACAF WORLD CUP QUALIFYING
With 3 places up for grabs and the 3 host nations (USA, Mexico, Canada) not involved, it is a great opportunity for some lesser renowned footballing nations to qualify.
The second round was completed this week and Honduras, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Curacao, Haiti, Panama, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Guatemala, El Salvador and Suriname progress.
The third round will see them drawn in 3 groups of 4, with the top team winning the qualification place. The best two runners-up will play off for a play-off place in the inter-confeds.

UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE
Portugal beat Spain on penalties to win the Nations League. France came 3rd and Germany 4th.

EUROPEAN WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
The big story was Norway beating Italy 3-0. A 1-0 win over Estonia means Norway have 12 points from their opening 4 games. Italy beat Moldova to get their first points on the board, from just 2 games.



The U21 European Championships start today (https://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewArticle/468235) with Portugal versus France the stand-out of todays 4 ties.