World Round-up: Everything's coming up Brazil
And not only did France vs Italy have goals, but the majority of them were scored by Italians, who would've thought?
What a difference a (match)day makes.
Friday’s matches in South America and Europe went a long way to dispelling two narratives that were lingering over September’s international window, featuring three former world champions.
Here is your round-up of the main stories in the last 24 hours, let’s get into it. Oh and, if you missed yesterday’s, no excuses…
Canaries sitting much prettier
A dreadful start to qualifying, only sitting in an automatic qualifying place by virtue of FIFA expanding the tournament and a poor Copa América, I stand by the decision to pedal the narrative that Brazil could miss out on World Cup qualification for the first time!
However, at risk of swinging too far back the other way, after 90 minutes of football O Seleção have me believing they are nailed on again to reach the 2026 finals.
At home to Ecuador in Curitiba, Brazil were by no means dominant, carving out just three shots on target to the visitors’ two despite much more possession.
The goal arrived after 30 minutes through Rodrygo, who continued his positive start to a season in which many expected him to be frozen out at club level. However, he needed a touch of fortune, as his 25-yard effort needed a big deflection to beat the goalkeeper.
But the bigger benefit for the Brazilians came through every single other result going their way in CONMEBOL matchday seven.
Thursday’s win for Bolivia over Venezuela looked like it was heaping more pressure on Brazil, but now looks to have been the better result, as they overtake both Ecuador and the Venezuelans in the standings to go fourth.
There may be no such thing as a welcome Argentina win if you are Brazilian, but their victory over Chile kept the latter from clipping Brazilian heels.
Friday night also saw Uruguay draw 0-0 with Paraguay, meaning Brazil are four points clear of Paraguay who occupy the play-off spot (seventh) and have narrowed the gap to Uruguay to four points.
There would be no fairytale ending for Luis Suárez, who played the full 90 minutes and struck the post with an athletic effort in his 143rd and final international appearance.
Wrapping up CONMEBOL matchday seven, Colombia needed a late Luis Díaz equaliser away at lowly Peru, who had gone in front through Alexander Callens.
Two points dropped for Colombia sees them stay third, a point behind Uruguay and now only three clear of Brazil, despite retaining their unbeaten record.
That record will be tested at home to Argentina on Tuesday, while Brazil can really put some breathing space between them and the chasing pack when they go to Paraguay.
Matchday 8 Fixtures
10th September: Colombia vs Argentina - Barranquilla / Chile vs Bolivia - Santiago / Ecuador vs Peru - Quito / Venezuela vs Uruguay - Maturín / Paraguay vs Brazil - Asunción
Italy stun France with power of three
I may have got sucked into the Brazil implosion idea, but quite frankly, I scoffed at the discussion I heard on more than one reputable podcast previewing the France vs Italy match in the UEFA Nations League. I’m paraphrasing, but the gist of it was…
I wouldn’t bother watching it, it’s got 0-0 written all over it. France have Mbappé so if there is a goal it’ll come from him. But I can’t see any way Italy score with Spalletti in charge.
I promise you, they are usually reputable.
So, as an outspoken Nations League advocate, you can imagine my smug joy not only when France took the lead after 13 seconds, but Italy responded by scoring three times of their own to win 3-1!
It took the Azzurri 74 minutes to score as many goals at the Parc des Princes as they managed in four matches at UEFA Euro 2024, as Federico Dimarco equalised after half an hour with a stunning volley, before Davide Frattesi and Giacomo Raspadori found the net in the second half.
After Albania’s opener in the Euros, Bradley Barcola’s first goal for France is the second incredibly early goal that Italy have let in recently, something Spalletti will have to stamp out, but that negative does not outweigh what was a positive night for him when under pressure - something that is only mounting on Didier Deschamps and the FFF’s decision to keep him on.
That League A Group 2 win was matched by another team in the group, Belgium, who saw off Israel with two Kevin De Bruyne goals and one from Youri Tielemans, in a match played in Hungary for security reasons.
League B is now underway, with Iceland the only team to record a win, which is quite ironic, as Iceland had never won a Nations League match before! I was on match report duty for Flashscore for that one, feel free to check out my work on their 2-0 win over Montenegro in Group B4.
Craig Bellamy’s first match in charge of Wales ended goalless at home to Turkey. Not a bad result against the Euros quarter-finalists, but Wales cannot afford to drop many points in Cardiff if they are to finish in the top two.
It is pretty much as you were in Group B3 after Euros participants Austria and Slovenia drew 1-1, while Norway again failed to get the most out of their attacking talent, drawing 0-0 in Kazakhstan despite 90 minutes of Erling Haaland up top.
In League C, there were two away wins in Group 2, as Romania brushed aside Kosovo 3-0 with everyone’s favourite superhero - Dennis Man - broke the deadlock. An Ioannis Pittas goal was enough for Cyprus to start with a win over Lithuania.
Copper Bullets can’t stop Elephants
Friday saw many of the big names begin their qualification campaign for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Holders Ivory Coast began with a tough opening game against 2012 winners Zambia, but two Jean-Philippe Krasso goals in the second half were the difference maker as Les Elephants downed The Copper Bullets.
Elsewhere, Egypt and DR Congo began by coming through unscathed from tricky ties with Cape Verde and Guinea, respectively, but Senegal could not get the better of Burkina Faso, as the two drew 1-1 in a repeat of the 2021 semi-final.
Check out this post for what I believe you should watch today and for the rest of the international break…
…and let me know your thoughts on the window so far!
Anthony Tomas is a football writer and commentator, who writes for Flashscore and World Soccer Magazine.