National teams, more than 1,400 minutes played by the Nerazzurri
National teams, more than 1,400 minutes played by the Nerazzurri The 2025/26 international window has come to an end, with twelve Nerazzurri featuring in the 2026 World Cup qualifying playoff and international friendlies. It was an intense window, during which the Nerazzurri recorded a total of 1,466 minutes on the pitch, contributing two goals and four assists. The most played players included Federico Dimarco, who played for 180 minutes, Nicolò Barella for 175', Hakan Çalhanoğlu for 173', and Piotr Zieliński for 171'.
Hakan Calhanoglu's Turkey secured qualification for the 2026 World Cup, with the Nerazzurri midfielder and national team captain celebrating on the field as Turkey returned to the tournament for the first time since 2002. Italy and Poland, on the other hand, were not successful. The Azzurri were eliminated on penalties by Bosnia, while Zielinski's Poland were left heartbroken after being defeated at the death by Sweden.
Thuram, Sucic, Akanji, Dumfries, and De Vrij all played in friendly games. Inter will be back in action on Sunday at 20:45 CET for their Serie A game against Roma. ITALY Nicolò Barella, Alessandro Bastoni, Federico Dimarco, Pio Esposito, Davide Frattesi Playoff World Cup Qualifier 2026, Italy 2-0 Northern Ireland| Barella 90', Bastoni 63', Dimarco 90', Esposito 27', Frattesi 0 Playoff Final World Cup Qualifier 2026, Bosnia Herzegovina 5-2 Italy on penalties | Barella 85' (1 assist), Bastoni 41', Dimarco 90', Esposito 49', Frattesi 35' CROATIA Petar Sucic Friendly, Colombia 1-2 Croatia | Sucic 61' Friendly, Brazil 3-1 Croatia | Sucic 82' FRANCE Marcus Thuram Friendly, Brazil 1-2 France | Thuram 24' Friendly, Colombia 1-3 France | Thuram 78' (1 goal, 1 assist) THE NETHERLANDS Denzel Dumfries, Stefan de Vrij Friendly, The Netherlands 2-1 Norway | Dumfries 90' (1 assist), de Vrij 8' Friendly, The Netherlands 1-1 Ecuador 1-1 | Dumfries 12', de Vrij 90.
' POLAND Piotr Zielinski Playoff World Cup Qualifier 2026, Poland 2-1 Albania | Zielinski 81' (1 goal) Playoff Final World Cup Qualifier 2026, Sweden 3-2 Poland | Zielinski 90' (1 assist) SWITZERLAND Manuel Akanji Friendly, Switzerland 3-4 Germany | Akanji 62' Friendly, Norway 0-0 Switzerland | Akanji 45' TURKEY Hakan Calhanoglu Playoff World Cup Qualifier 2026, Turkey 1-0 Romania | Calhanoglu 90' Playoff Final World Cup Qualifier 2026, Kosovo 0-1 Turkey | Calhanoglu 83'