International Football Is Back – Here’s What to Look Forward To
Just when we were getting nicely settled into the new club season, along comes the international break to ruin our weekend routine.
No Premier League. No Manchester United and Liverpool. No Saturday afternoon checking scores every five minutes while pretending to have a conversation with the family.
But before we complain too much, this isn’t your normal international break.
It’s a monster one.
The international window runs from 21 September until 6 October, with some countries playing as many as four matches. So while our favourite clubs take a back seat for a couple of weeks, there’s still plenty of football to keep us occupied.
And there are some cracking fixtures coming up.
UEFA Nations League Returns
Europe turns its attention to the UEFA Nations League, and there are some seriously tasty games on the menu.
England have been handed a very interesting group alongside Spain, Croatia and Czechia.
And they don’t exactly get an easy introduction.
England vs Spain at Wembley.That’s one I’ll definitely be watching.
Then it’s Czechia away, Croatia away and Czechia again at Wembley.
Four internationals in eleven days.
Whoever came up with that schedule clearly doesn’t have Fantasy Premier League players to worry about.
Elsewhere, we’ve got games like Netherlands vs Germany, Italy vs Belgium, Türkiye vs France, Portugal vs Wales and France vs Italy.
Not bad for an “international break.”
England vs Spain – The Big One
This is probably the standout fixture for me.England against Spain at Wembley on Saturday night.
Two massive football nations, plenty of quality on both sides and a proper test to kick off the Nations League campaign.England then travel to Prague to face Czechia before another difficult away game against Croatia.
By the time this international break finishes, we’ll know quite a bit more about where England are.
BAFANA BAFANA ARE BACK!
Closer to home, this is a massive international window for South Africa.
And there’s a very familiar man back in charge.
PITSO MOSIMANE.
Bafana begin their qualification campaign for AFCON 2027 against Guinea at Orlando Stadium on 26 September. From there, it’s off to Cairo where they’ll face Eritrea in their second qualifier on 30 September.
And then there’s one more interesting assignment.
EGYPT vs SOUTH AFRICA.
A friendly in Cairo on 4 October.BThat’s a very decent test for Pitso and his new-look Bafana side.
He’s brought some fresh faces into the squad as well, so I’m looking forward to seeing who grabs their opportunity. The priority, though, has to be those AFCON qualifiers.
Get the campaign off to a strong start and then we can enjoy the Egypt game without biting our fingernails.Hopefully This is Bafana we’re talking about.
Games I’m Looking Forward To
There is plenty to choose from over the next couple of weeks.
England vs Spain
Netherlands vs Germany
Italy vs Belgium
Türkiye vs France
South Africa vs Guinea
Spain vs Croatia
Belgium vs France
Germany vs Serbia
Denmark vs Portugal
France vs Italy
Croatia vs England
Portugal vs Norway
France vs Belgium
Croatia vs Spain
And, of course…
Egypt vs South Africa.
Plenty of football.Plenty of big names. And hopefully plenty of goals.
The One Thing Every Club Fan Wants…
PLEASE SEND OUR PLAYERS BACK IN ONE PIECE! That’s basically it.
You can win 5-0.Score a hat-trick.Captain your country.
Become a national hero.Lovely.Just don’t come back to Manchester on crutches.
Every international break becomes the same thing for club supporters.You start off supporting your country and somewhere around the 65th minute you realise one of your club’s most important players is still running around in a game that’s already 4-0.
SUB HIM OFF!
Enjoy It – Because Club Football Will Be Back Soon
I know international breaks aren’t everyone’s cup of tea.
Personally, nothing quite replaces that feeling of waking up on a Saturday morning knowing there’s a full Premier League programme ahead.But this particular break has enough quality to keep us entertained.
The Nations League gets underway.
Bafana begin their road to AFCON 2027.
Pitso is back in the Bafana dugout.
England face Spain and Croatia.
And some of Europe’s biggest nations go head-to-head.
So put the club rivalries away for a couple of weeks.
Well…
Maybe not completely.Enjoy the internationals.Support your country.Pray your club’s players don’t get injured.And then we’ll get back to the serious business.
PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL.
Can’t come soon enough.
SWOOSH
