Sunday International Round-Up: A Mixed Bag

03/24/2025 04:30 PM

Could the international break help players return to form?

Diogo Jota was perhaps the headliner for the Reds in Sunday's action, with the Liverpool striker — who has looked a bit out of form since returning from his injury — assisting Portugal's fifth goal in a 5-2 extra time win against Denmark in their Nations League Qualifier. While it doesn't at first seem wildly impressive, Jota did manage a goal involvement off the bench, thus increasing his match sharpness without over-exerting himself in the full 120 minutes.

As reported elsewhere, the Netherlands were knocked out of the competition to Spain on pens after equalizing very late on. Virgil Van Dijk did score his penalty, but it wasn't enough on the day (Cody Gakpo did not take one, having gone off in the 78th minute).

Second choice goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher featured in Ireland's 2-1 win over Bulgaria, securing his side a 4-2 victory on aggregate in Nations League B Qualification. Liverpool's other back-up, Giorhi Mamardashvili conceded one in an okay showing for Georgia, seeing his side win 6-1 on the night and 9-1 on aggregate against a struggling Armenian side also in Nations League B Qualification.

Andy Robertson saw Scotland fall to a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Greece, going out on the 73rd minute. Having come into the game with a 1-0 lead, the Scottish captain will have been disappointed to see his side go out so decisively. On the other side of things, Kostas Tsimikas was an unused substitute.

Dominik Szobozslai saw further disappointment as his Hungarian side was roundly defeated 3-0 by Turkiye in their A/B playoff, making it 6-1 for Turkiye on aggregate.

In happier news, Ibrahima Konaté was an unused substitute for France against Croatia, as the French side overturned a two goal deficit to take the game into extra time and pens. France progressed without any minutes in Konaté's legs.