It was a historic day of international football for Wolves on Thursday as all three of the players who started for their countries found the back of the net.
Hee Chan Hwang started the day of Old Gold scoring as he put South Korea ahead against Oman, Zimbabwe captain Marshall Munetsi followed that up in the afternoon with his second international goal, before Matt Doherty rounded out the evening by heading home Republic of Ireland’s winner against Bulgaria - marking the first time in history Wolves have had three international starters all score for different countries on the same day.
With several players set to represent their countries throughout the coming days, wolves.co.uk rounds-up all the action featuring Vitor Pereira’s squad so far this week.
Hee Chan Hwang | South Korea 1-1 Oman
In the lunchtime kick-off out in Goyang, Hwang opened the scoring against Oman just before the break when the forward latched onto a defence-splitting pass by PSG’s Kang-in Lee before taking a deft touch with his trailing leg and guiding a finish inside the far corner of the net with the other. Hwang was brought off on 63 minutes with his country still ahead, but without him, Korea conceded late on in their World Cup qualifier. Despite having to settle for a point, Korea still top AFC Qualification Group B on 15 points from seven matches, with another fixture to come at home to Jordan on Tuesday (25th March, 11am).
Hee Chan on the scoresheet 🇰🇷⚽️ pic.twitter.com/9qMjA0pwLv
— Wolves (@Wolves) March 20, 2025
Marshall Munetsi | Zimbabwe 2-2 Benin
The second goal of the day from a Wolves player came in Durban, South Africa, where Zimbabwe were taking on Benin in another World Cup qualifier. Captained by Munetsi, the hosts found themselves two goals down inside the opening 35 minutes, but the Old Gold midfielder halved the deficit moments before half-time when he swept home a ball across the box. Wolves loanee Tawanda Chirewa – who is currently plying his trade in League One for Huddersfield Town – was brought off the bench at the break and the pair helped to get their country back onto level terms to add a point to their CAF Group C tally. Although it’s not impossible for Zimbabwe to book their place at next summer’s World Cup, three points from their opening five games mean it will be an uphill struggle. However, they are next in action on Tuesday (25th March, 4pm) with a visit to Nigeria.
Matt Doherty | Bulgaria 1-2 Republic of Ireland
Wolves’ third and final international starter of the day made it three scorers from three as Doherty was Ireland’s hero in their Nations League play-off first leg away in Bulgaria. Despite his impressive displays at centre-back for Wolves in recent months, Doherty was in at right-back for his country, and although they found themselves behind after six minutes, Finn Azaz’s finish brought the visitors level. The defender put Ireland ahead just before the half-time whistle when he put his head in where it hurts to meet Josh Cullen’s long ball, beating the onrushing keeper to the pass, his touch turned the ball home. Ireland held on to the win, which gives them a goal advantage heading into Sunday’s (23rd March, 7.45pm) second leg in Dublin.
Goals for Matt and Marshall yesterday! 🇮🇪🇿🇼 pic.twitter.com/VLPE490mhR
— Wolves (@Wolves) March 21, 2025
Elsewhere
Old Gold captain Nelson Semedo came off the bench in Portugal’s 1-0 loss to Denmark in the Nations League quarter-final first leg. Introduced on 66 minutes for Diogo Dalot when the game was goalless, Semedo was unable to help his side see out the contest as Rasmus Hojlund scored the only goal of the game. Jose Sa was an unused substitute for his country, who will be hoping to turn the tie around in the second leg in Lisbon on Sunday (23rd March, 7.45pm).
Two other Wolves players featured off the bench for their country in the early hours of Friday morning, with Matheus Cunha and Andre helping Brazil to a 2-1 World Cup qualification victory over Colombia. Back in the Brazil squad after more than a year away, Cunha replaced Joao Pedro on 60 minutes with the game tied at 1-1, before Andre joined his club teammate on 78 minutes, and both were on the pitch to celebrate Vinicius Jr’s added time winner. The win puts Brazil second in the CONMEBOL qualifying table, four points behind Argentina who they face on Wednesday (26th March, 12am) - where they will be joined by Joao Gomes, who has been drafted into the squad as an injury replacement.
Matheus Cunha makes his first international appearance since October 2023 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/Tzp5fI7knj
— Wolves (@Wolves) March 21, 2025
Coming up
Santiago Bueno’s Uruguay will be looking at going back above Brazil in South America’s World Cup qualification table when they take on Argentina at 11.30pm this evening, while three other Wolves players will be hoping to put their countries closer to next summer’s World Cup as part of the African qualification campaign this afternoon.
Rayan Ait-Nouri is with the Algeria squad for their away tie in Botswana from 1pm, before Nasser Djiga and Burkina Faso face Djibouti from 4pm. Finally, Emmanuel Agbadou and Ivory Coast will be looking to continue their 100 per cent record in qualifying when they travel to Burundi at 7pm.
Rodrigo Gomes and Carlos Forbs are joined by Wolves loanee Fabio Silva in the Portugal under-21 squad for their friendly against Romania in Familicao, with kick-off at 6.30pm today.
