International round-up: summing up the action from the season’s final break

VIENNA, AUSTRIA - MARCH 27: Prince Kwabena Adu of Ghana (L) and Kevin Danso of Austria (R) fight for the ball during an international friendly match between Austria and Ghana at Ernst Happel Stadion on March 27, 2026 in Vienna, Austria. (Photo by Christian Bruna/Getty Images) | Getty Images I hate international football. But sometimes, just sometimes you need an escape from football, and international football (being barely football itself) can provide that!

It’s an escape that those following Tottenham Hotspur desperately need, thanks to *gestures vaguely at everything* It is not, however, an escape Spurs’ squad need, given many of them have played a LOT of minutes this season and the ongoing injury crisis that has torn the Lilywhites to shreds (to shreds, you say? ). Tired legs do not need more football, and every time Spurs’ players head away on an international break I cross myself, touch wood, throw salt over my shoulder, and spin around three times to try and ward off any bad injury luck.

Those rituals are clearly not working, because 1) the football gods have already repeatedly demonstrated they hate Tottenham Hotspur, and 2) we have more injuries! Mathys Tel received a perhaps surprise call-up to the French squad, but was immediately sent back to North London with a thigh injury; while Pape Matar Sarr saw 10 minutes off the bench for AFCON Winners Senegal (yes, that’s right) against Peru before missing their subsequent match against Gambia with an apparent shoulder injury. There was better injury news elsewhere, though, as Lucas Bergvall made his long-awaited return to Sweden’s national team, coming off the bench in both of Sweden’s matches as the Blue and Yellow qualified for the World Cup with wins over Ukraine and Poland.

Radu Dragusin also continued working his way back to full fitness, albeit with less success on the pitch, as Romania fell to both Turkey and Slovakia, Dragusin starting both fixtures. The loss to Turkey ensured Romania will not compete at the World Cup in summer. Elsewhere in Europe, Pedro Porro got something resembling a break compared to what he is normally used to, sitting out Spain’s 3-0 win over Serbia before going the distance in their second match, a goalless draw against Egypt.