The big news during the international break has been the bad news about Brian Brobbey and Dan Ballard.
Coming off his brilliant hat-trick against Manchester City, Brobbey started for the Netherlands on September 24, but went off with a hamstring injury after just 35 minutes. A day later, Ballard pulled up lame in the 90th minute of Northern Ireland’s 1-0 defeat of Georgia.
Both subsequently left their respective
international camps. There have been reports Ballard is out for “months rather than weeks”, but Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill also expressed the hope he might be back for the November window. There have not been any public reports on Brobbey’s status.
Noah Sadiki started both of DR Congo’s African Cup of Nations qualifying wins over Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe. He was withdrawn after 75 minutes of the latter and was seen limping post-game.
DR Congo plays twin friendlies on October 2 and 5 against Uganda, and Sadiki is one of only two regulars included in the second roster of the window.
Ballard’s countryman Trai Hume captained the side, went 90 and assisted the winner against Georgia. He also played the full match in a 0-0 draw against Hungary. He’s back in action against Ukraine on October 2 and tackles Georgia again at home on October 5.
Omar Alderete, who has played only 165 minutes this season coming off an injury at the World Cup, started and played 61 minutes for Paraguay. He was substituted just a couple of minutes after receiving a yellow card. Paraguay plays again on October 2 against Colombia.
Austria plays again tonight, but will be without Kevin Danso. Danso started and finished Austria’s wins against Israel and Kosovo, but yellow cards in both matches mean he is suspended against Ireland. Danso will be available again for his country against Kosovo on October 4.
Wilson Isidor went 90 twice in twin Haiti wins against Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica. In the first game, Isidor assisted the first two goals, the second tying the match in the 91st minute.
Seven minutes later, he bravely, too bravely for Sunderland fans surely, nodded home the winner with a high boot dangerously close to his head.
Haiti is second to Curaçao on goal difference in CONCACAF Nations League A, Group B. The top two teams from the group advance to the Nations League quarter-finals in November and qualify for the 2027 Gold Cup, CONCACAF’s regional championship.
Haiti’s final two games are early tomorrow morning against the Dominican Republic and October 4 against Costa Rica.
Juan Riquelme Angulo made his senior Ecuadorian debut with 23 minutes in a 3-0 friendly loss to South Korea. Nilson Angulo started and played 74 minutes. The duo play Japan this morning.
Malick Fofana (Belgium), Robin Roefs (Netherlands) and Melker Ellborg (Sweden) have not featured for their respective nations.
In the youth ranks, Chris Rigg and England won both matches in the U20 Elite League and play again on October 3 against Germany. Dayann Méthalie did not play in France’s first Euro U-21 qualifier, but played the full match in a 2-0 win over Estonia. France hosts Luxembourg on October 3 and Switzerland on October 6. Jules Ahoka captained DR Congo in a 1-0 loss to Mauritania in U-23 AFCON qualifying. The second leg will be on October 6.
Long-forgotten Abdoullah Ba made his international debut with Mauritania in a 2-1 loss to Benin. Ba played 14 minutes, his first senior minutes since May 10, 2025.
