A packed evening of international football provided mixed results with a number of players in 2026 World Cup qualifying play-off action on Thursday night.
It was delight for Lucas Bergvall on his seventh appearance for Sweden as he helped them advance to one of four European World Cup qualifying play-off finals with a 3-1 win over Ukraine in Valencia, Spain.
The victory, in which Lucas played the final 12 minutes after replacing Yasin Ayari, sets up a winner-takes-all clash with Poland who defeated Albania in the other semi-final in Play-off Path B.
Sadly, it was heartbreak for both Radu Dragusin’s Romania and Jamie Donley’s Northern Ireland, who both fell short at the semi-final stage of the European qualifying play-offs.
Radu made his first appearance for his country since November, 2024 - his 28th in total - having missed the entire qualifying campaign due to an ACL injury. The defender played the full 90 minutes as Romania suffered a narrow 1-0 away loss to Turkey.
Donley, who is currently on loan at Oxford United, also started for his nation to earn his seventh senior cap for Northern Ireland and played 79 minutes in their 2-0 semi-final defeat away to Italy.
There was also disappointment for Ben Davies and Wales, who were knocked out on penalties by Bosnia & Herzegovina after the game ended 1-1 after extra time.
Despite being injured, Davies, who received his 100th cap for Wales in the October international break, was present on the Welsh bench supporting his teammates in their 4-2 defeat on penalties.
Finally, Tyrese Hall was an unused substitute as Jamaica reached one of the two inter-confederation play-off finals with a 1-0 victory over New Caledonia. A win in the Pathway 1 final against DR Congo on Tuesday will see Jamaica slotted into Group K at this summer’s tournament.
Elsewhere, Randal Kolo Muani was named among the substitutes for France’s friendly against Brazil at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, but did not feature as Les Bleus managed to defeat Carlo Ancelotti’s side 2-1 despite playing the majority of the second half with 10 men.
In action on Friday 27 March
Tyrese Hall – Jamaica 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification play-off against New Caledonia in Mexico – kick-off 3am
Callum Olusesi – England Under-20s away friendly against Italy – kick-off 3.30pm
Kevin Danso – Austria home friendly against Ghana – kick-off 5pm
Xavi Simons and Micky van de Ven – Netherlands home friendly against Norway – kick-off 7.45pm
Dominic Solanke and Djed Spence – England home friendly against Uruguay – kick-off 7.45pm
Pedro Porro – Spain home friendly against Serbia – kick-off 8pm
Archie Gray and Ashley Phillips – England Under-21s away European Under-21 Championship qualifier against Andorra – kick-off 6.30pm
James Wilson – Scotland Under-21s home European Under-21 Championship qualifier against Czech Republic – kick-off 7pm
Cristian Romero – Argentina home friendly against Mauritania – kick-off 11.15pm