Seven things to look out for during the international break

The Premier League has paused for the second international break of the season, but a number of your favourite players are in action for their nations. Football writer Ben Bloom identifies key points and discusses what's at stake.

England on the brink of pain-free World Cup spot

England’s FIFA World Cup qualification campaign so far under Thomas Tuchel has been notable for the minimum amount of fuss in which the Three Lions have gone top of their group, and they could seal the deal by the time the Premier League resumes.

Two wins from England's remaining three qualifying matches would ensure their World Cup spot, but victory in Latvia next week may well be sufficient depending on results elsewhere.

UEFA Group K standings

Tuchel’s side, which is packed with Premier League stars, have won all five of their qualifying matches so far, scoring 13 goals in the process and not conceding any.

In fact, Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has not seen his England goal breached in a competitive fixture since October 2024, keeping seven successive clean sheets.

England first face Wales in a friendly on Thursday before their Latvia trip, with Manchester City full-back Nico O'Reilly receiving his first call-up to the national squad, following the withdrawal of Chelsea captain Reece James through injury.

Haaland eyeing first major tournament

Erling Haaland’s scoring record for his country is as ridiculous as that for his various clubs.

The Man City and Norway striker has 48 goals in 45 international matches, and is in the hottest form of his career, netting 18 goals already this season for club and country.

His goals – including a remarkable five in an 11-1 victory over Moldova last month – have helped Norway to a perfect record of five wins from five games to build a six-point lead at the top of their World Cup qualifying group.

Watch all of Haaland's nine goals for Man City this season

Norway have one qualifier to play this month — they host Israel on Saturday — followed by a home friendly against New Zealand next Tuesday. They will have to play both without their captain, Martin Odegaard, after the Arsenal skipper was injured during Saturday's win over West Ham United.

If other results go their way, Norway could secure their World Cup spot during this international break. The last major tournament they qualified for was the 2000 UEFA European Championships.

Norway's success could come at Italy’s expense

Italy’s major tournament record has been erratic over the past decade. Between failing to qualify for the last two World Cups in 2018 and 2022, they won the European Championship in 2020.

They then did not make it past the last 16 in last year’s defence of that crown.

Italy's efforts to secure a spot at the 2026 World Cup suffered a blow when they were brushed aside 3-0 by Norway in their opening qualification match, and they only edged past Israel 5-4 last time out thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali.

There will be 16 European nations at next year's global tournament, including the winners of the 12 qualifying groups. Italy are currently six points behind Norway in Group I, albeit with a game in hand.

The 12 runners-up go into the playoffs, where they will be joined by the four highest-ranked group winners of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League that did not finish first or second in their qualifying groups.

These 16 teams will be drawn into four playoff paths that each consist of two one-legged semi-finals and a one-legged final. The winners of the four finals will qualify for the World Cup. More information can be found here on UEFA.com.

Italy are therefore under pressure to win their upcoming qualifiers against Estonia and Israel. Premier League luminaries such as Gianluigi Donnarumma (Man City), Guglielmo Vicario (Spurs), Destiny Udogie (Spurs) and Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal) will otherwise be staring at the playoffs or even worse.

UEFA Group I standings

A rare short-haul trip for Wood

Norway's friendly against New Zealand will mark a rare short-haul international trip for Chris Wood, whose national side also play Poland during this break.

The Nottingham Forest striker is his country's all-time leading goalscorer and he struck nine times in just five Oceania qualifying matches as New Zealand secured their place at a third World Cup and first since 2010.

That involved no stiffer task than seeing off teams such as New Caledonia, Fiji and Tahiti.

How the All Whites fare against far more imposing European opposition will be revealing. After scoring 20 Premier League goals for Forest last season, Wood has only found the net twice so far in this campaign.

Swedish stars searching for form

In a bumper summer of Premier League transfers, no nation was greater represented among the most expensive cohort than Sweden.

Alexander Isak’s move from Newcastle to Liverpool saw him break the British transfer record, while Arsenal spent big on Viktor Gyokeres and Newcastle splashed out on Anthony Elanga from Forest.

With such attacking firepower, Sweden might expect to be blitzing their way through World Cup qualification. Yet they are without a win in both of their matches so far, losing against Kosovo and only managing a draw against Slovenia.

Club form has also been mixed for the star Swedish trio. Isak is yet to score in the Premier League for his new club, while Elanga has been in and out of Newcastle's starting XI.

Although Arsenal have won eight of their opening 10 matches across all competitions, Gyokeres has now gone six games without a goal, having found the net in only two of his 10 appearances.

African nations reach qualification end point

With two matchdays remaining in African World Cup qualifying, only Morocco and Tunisia are so far assured of their place at the tournament.

Just the nine group winners are guaranteed spots without having to rely on inter-continental playoffs, leaving seven guaranteed berths up for grabs.

With a five-point advantage at the top of their group, Egypt look to be in a commanding position.

Their star man, last season’s Premier League Golden Boot winner Mohamed Salah, is yet to find his best form for Liverpool this campaign.

CAF Group A standings

Aided by two of the Premier League’s standout players in Mohammed Kudus (Spurs) and Antoine Semenyo (AFC Bournemouth), Ghana are also likely to qualify.

They could yet be joined by DR Congo, who are looking to make their first World Cup since 1974, when they competed as Zaire.

Their players include Aaron Wan-Bissaka (West Ham United), Arthur Masuaku (Sunderland) and Noah Sadiki (Sunderland). Newcastle's Yoane Wissa remains absent with a knee injury.

Heavyweights Nigeria could miss out

Three-time Africa Cup of Nations winners Nigeria are one of the continent’s heavyweight teams, only twice failing to qualify for the World Cup in their last eight attempts.

However, Africa’s most populous country are in danger of not only missing out on top spot in their group, but potentially even missing out on a playoff spot.

Even maximum points in their remaining two games against Lesotho and the Group C leaders Benin might not be sufficient for Nigeria to end as one of the best runners-up, given South Africa are currently in second place.

CAF Group C standings

Failure to improve their current standing would be a huge disappointment for such Premier League talents as Ola Aina (Nott'm Forest), Calvin Bassey (Fulham), Alex Iwobi (Fulham), Frank Onyeka (Brentford) and Tolu Arokodare (Wolverhampton Wanderers).

For more information on the African qualifying competition for the 2026 World Cup, visit FIFA.com.