Clockwise: Dara O’Shea, George Hirst, Sindre Walle Egeli and Marcelino Nunez are all away on international duty this month
Six Ipswich Town players have been called up for international duty this month. Alex Jones takes a look at what they will be up to in the November break….
Dara O’Shea and Jack Taylor will hope to keep the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup dreams alive (Image: PA)
Dara O’Shea, Jack Taylor and Chiedozie Ogbene – Republic of Ireland
The ‘Republic of Town’, as Sam Szmodics once dubbed Ipswich’s Ireland contingent, has been decimated. The former Blackburn Rovers star is out of this round of international duty after undergoing surgery on a knee injury, while Kasey McAteer has been left out of the squad by manager Heimir Halgrimsson.
28-cap Chiedozie Ogbene is in, although he’s spending the season out on loan at Sheffield United. That leaves Dara O’Shea and Jack Taylor, with the former currently on 39 caps and the latter on eight.
This will be a huge week for all three, as they will discover whether or not they will keep their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup alive. It certainly won’t be easy.
As it stands, the Boys in Green won’t be heading to North America. They sit third in Group F, six points behind leaders Portugal but just one behind Hungary, who occupy the play-off spot in second.
However, it looks like Ireland will need to take something from tonight’s home game against Portugal (7:45pm) to give themselves a fighting chance. A defeat, coupled with a win for Hungary against rock-bottom Armenia, would end any lingering hopes with a game to spare.
Should they avoid losing to Cristiano Ronaldo & co, a win away in Budapest on Sunday (2pm) will surely be vital as they wrap up their qualifying campaign.
Ireland will need to put in two exceptional performances, and they will probably need a bit of luck too. The odds are stacked against them, but it’s not impossible.
George Hirst’s Scotland will go head-to-head with Denmark for automatic World Cup qualification (Image: PA)
Scotland are in a different position to Ireland when it comes to World Cup qualification. They are guaranteed a play-off spot if they don’t finish top of Group C.
That’s because they currently sit second, level on points but behind Denmark on goal difference. However, they boast an insurmountable seven-point lead on third-place Greece.
As a result, Denmark and Scotland will go head-to-head to fight for automatic qualification. That starts on Saturday, when the former host Belarus while the latter travel to Greece (both 7:45pm). Then it all comes down to a titanic clash at Hampden Park next Tuesday (also 7:45pm), with the top two going up against each other in the last qualifying match.
George Hirst has been called up, hoping for more action than he’s had in the last two international breaks. Since his seven-minute cameo away at Denmark back in September, he has been an unused substitute for three consecutive games.
The 26-year-old currently has six caps and one goal to his name for Steve Clarke’s side.
Marcelino Nunez is set to travel to Russia for two friendlies with Chile (Image: Ross Halls)
No competitive matches for Marcelino Nunez this international break, with Chile’s World Cup qualifying campaign done and dusted. They ended up finishing bottom of the CONMEBOL table, missing out on automatic qualification by 17 points and a play-off spot by nine points.
Because of that, it’s friendlies from now on. This month, they will head out to Sochi to play two matches at the Fisht Olympic Stadium – the first against Russia on Saturday (3pm), the second against Peru next Tuesday (11am).
Nunez has played a minimal part for his country in recent months due to fitness and injury issues. He did, however, play 23 minutes off the bench against Peru in a friendly last month.
The 25-year-old has bagged five goals in 32 caps for La Roja so far.
Sindre Walle Egeli will continue playing with Norway Under-21s (Image: Ross Halls)
Still no place for Sindre Walle Egeli in Norway’s senior squad. That’s not a surprise, nor is it anything to do with his quality. Stale Solbakken’s side has remarkable attacking depth at his disposal, closing in on a place at the World Cup with six wins from six qualifying matches so far, scoring 29 goals and conceding just three in that time.
The Under-21s are also in competitive action, resuming their Euro U21 qualifying game. They have played just once so far, leaving them second in Group G.
A trip to Hungary comes first, where they will face Israel in Kecskemet (5:45pm). That’s followed by another away game next Tuesday – this one in Sarajevo, where they will take on Bosnia (5pm).
Walle Egeli missed the last international break through injury, although his country only played a friendly match against Spain U21s, which they lost 4-1. That means he still has nine caps for Jan Peder Jalland’s side, having scored three goals.
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