Spurs international break recap

Upon the completion of the South American games last night, the final international break of 2024 is over. There were a number of Tottenham Hotspur players in action over the break. Let’s recap and summarise how they all got on.

There was UEFA nations league success for a number of players. To begin, Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Bergvall, and their Sweden side secured promotion from league C, after 2-0 and 6-0 wins over Slovakia and Azerbaijan respectively.

In the win over Azerbaijan, Kulsuevski scored two goals and provided an assist, whilst also putting in a superb performance in general. Understandably, Bergvall found game time harder to come by, but got another cap ticked off in the win over Azerbaijan. Sweden will compete in league B in the next iteration of the competition.

Productive international break for a lot of Spurs players

Elsewhere in league C, Radu Dragusin and his Romania side also achieved promotion. Their first game at home to Kosovo was abandoned in stoppage time due to geopolitical tensions, but even if they are awarded a 3-0 defeat, they will have topped the group. Romania will compete in league B in the next iteration of the competition.

There was a promotion from league B for Ben Davies, Brennan Johnson and their Wales side. Having picked up a respectable 0-0 draw in Turkey, they secured a 4-1 win at home to Iceland on Tuesday to secure promotion. One clean sheet for Davies, and a goal + assist for Johnson. Wales will compete in league A in the next iteration of the competition.

That was not the only promotion from league B. Dominic Solanke and his England side have also got over the line. After a 3-0 win over Greece in Athens on swung the head to head record back in the three lions favour, an emphatic 5-0 win over Ireland on Sunday secured their fate as group winners. Solanke picked up cap number three in that game. England will compete in league A in the next iteration of the competition.  

Into league A itself, where Pedro Porro and his Spain side secured top spot in their group, securing a tie against a runner up in the quarter-finals, with the second leg at home. Porro started the first win against Denmark, and was rested for the win over Switzerland. Spain remain in league A for the next iteration of the competition.

As for Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, and Italy, they did not have quite the same success over this break. A win over Belgium on Thursday was then followed up with a 3-1 defeat at home to France on Sunday, where all they had to do was avoid a two goal defeat to top the group. Vicario was on the bench against Belgium, and started against France. Udogie came off the bench in both games.

 Nevertheless, they will be part of the quarter-final draw on Friday, where they will face a group winner, and could face Porro’s Spain side. Italy remain in league A for the next iteration of the competition.

Onto the other continents. Heung Min-Son and his South Korea side picked up four points from their two World Cup qualifiers against Kuwait and Palestine. The skipper scored in both games, as he continues to fully recover from injuries. South Korea are currently three points clear at the top of their current qualifying group.

Having only just failed to do so last time, Yves Bissouma and his Mali side got over the line in AFCON qualifying this time, after beating Mozambique 1-0 on the road. They finished their qualifying campaign with a 6-0 win over Eswatini. Bissouma registered assists in both games.

Elsewhere, Pape Matar Sarr and Senegal had already secured their qualification during the October break. Sarr was a late sub in their first win over Burkina Faso, before starting the win over Burundi – playing 87 minutes.

Rodrigo Bentancur started both CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying games for Uruguay, as they beat Colombia 3-2, before drawing 1-1 with Brazil. They sit second in qualifying, with 20 points from 12 games so far. Having picked up two yellow cards, he will be suspended for their next qualifier in March.

Across South America, Cristian Romero started for Argentina in their World Cup qualifying defeat to Paraguay, coming off at half-time due to a foot injury. It remains to be seen if he will make Saturday's clash at Manchester City, with not much revealed either way.

In terms of age group football, Will Lankshear came off the bench for England U20s to score against Germany, before starting against Poland in the U20 elite league. Archie Gray started twice for England U21s in friendlies against Spain and the Netherlands, with Scarlett scoring and starting against the latter.

Finally, loanee Luka Vuskovic started both games for Croatia U21 in their two legged play off tie against Georgia, with the winner qualifying for the 2025 Euros. Croatia lost the first leg 1-0, before winning the second leg 3-2. After a goalless extra time, penalties ensued, with Vuskovic's side agonisingly losing 7-6, despite Vuskovic scoring his spot kick.