Internationals | Wolves players prepared for national team duty

6th October 2021

Bruno Lage has seen 11 members of his first-team squad called up to take part in international action in the coming week as many prepare to represent their national teams in World Cup qualification.

Captain Conor Coady has once again been selected as part of the England squad as they aim to confirm their place at the World Cup in Qatar next winter, as the Three Lions play just two qualification matches during this international break.

England, who currently sit top of UEFA Group I, four points clear of second place Albania, face Andorra on Saturday (9^th October) before hosting Hungary at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday (12^th October).

Also in world Cup qualifying this week is the Portugal trio of Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho and Nelson Semedo, who will take on Luxembourg in Faro next Tuesday, having taken on World Cup hosts Qatar in a friendly on Saturday evening.

Wolves winger Francisco Trincao had been drafted into the Portugal squad in place of Benfica's Rafa Silva but following a positive Covid-19 test will now have to isolate, while Semedo was a late call-up following the withdrawal of Borussia Dortmund's Raphael Guerreiro.

Portugal also top their qualification group, thanks to 13 points from their opening five matches, and hold just a narrow two-point lead over Serbia.

Leander Dendoncker is back in the Belgium squad, as the Red Devils are in Nations League finals action in Italy, hoping to emulate his Portuguese teammates who lifted the trophy last time out.

Belgium will take on France at the Juventus Stadium on Thursday evening (7^th October) in the second of the two semi-final clashes, while a Spanish side who have not selected Adama Traore will take on hosts Italy in the opening semi-final.

The winners of the semi-finals will go head-to-head for the chance to claim the second Nations League title on Sunday (10^th October), while the losing semi-finalists will play a third-place play-off earlier in the day.

Outside of Europe, Raul Jimenez will be busy as he jets off to Mexico for their three World Cup qualifying matches this week. His side take on Canada on Friday (8^th October), Honduras on Monday (11^th October), and El Salvador away on Thursday (14^th October).

Despite missing the opening round of fixtures, Jimenez’s country are top of the CONCACAF qualification standings, having picked up seven points from their three games so far, two points ahead of Friday’s visitors Canada.

Romain Saiss will captain Morocco for their CAN World Cup qualification ties as they face Guinea-Bussau twice this week, at home this evening (6^th October) and away on Saturday, before taking on Guinea on Tuesday, with Willy Boly set to represent Ivory Coast in a double header against Malawi, as they head away on Friday before hosting the same nation on Monday.

Following his brace against Newcastle United on Saturday, Hee Chan Hwang is once again in the South Korea squad as they look to continue their unbeaten run in AFC World Cup qualifying by hosting Syria on Thursday, before heading to Iran on Tuesday.

Wolves also have two players aiming to qualify for the 2023 UEFA Under-21 European Championship, with Fabio Silva in the Portugal squad for their fixtures with Liechtenstein and Iceland, while Ki-Jana Hoever is in the Netherlands squad as they travel to Switzerland and host Wales.

Wolves internationals October fixtures

Moutinho, Neves, Semedo (Portugal): FIFA World Cup qualifiers & Friendly