A round-up of how Everton players fared on international duty on Tuesday
Jordan Pickford acknowledges the fans following the World Cup qualifying match between Serbia and England at Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade on September 9, 2025
Jordan Pickford acknowledges the fans following the World Cup qualifying match between Serbia and England at Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade on September 9, 2025
(Image: Eddie Keogh - The FA via Getty Images)
On a night on which several Everton stars were on international duty and with talks poised to begin over a new contract to keep him at Hill Dickinson Stadium for the rest of his career, Jordan Pickford equalled an England record for the longest ever run of clean sheets.
In what was by far their most convincing display under Thomas Tuchel so far, the Three Lions romped to a 5-0 victory over 10-man Serbia in Belgrade to keep up their 100% record some five matches into their World Cup qualifying campaign. The shutout also ensured England haven’t conceded a goal in any of their last seven competitive matches, with Pickford in between the sticks for all of them.
The sequence equals their longest ever run of clean sheets in such games, set between October 1988 and October 1989 under Sir Bobby Robson. Now on 78 caps, Pickford has smashed the previous record of appearances for the Three Lions for a player while at the Blues (Phil Jagielka, 40) and has passed the totals of David Seaman and Joe Hart (both 75) to become the country’s most capped goalkeeper after Peter Shilton, who retains England’s overall international appearance record on 125 while the clean sheet against Serbia was his 40th, moving him level with Seaman in joint third place behind Hart (43) and Shilton (66).
Another potentially telling statistic is that in the two games the Everton player hasn’t turned out for his country during this time, they conceded on both occasions, a 3-1 win in Finland and 3-1 loss to Senegal, with Crystal Palace’s Dean Henderson getting the nod each time only for the understudy to fluff his lines, being nutmegged at the near most by Habib Diarra in the latter, with the ball ricocheting into the net off his leg.
Senegal, featuring both Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye, also continued their winning ways on Tuesday night as they came from 2-0 down to triumph 3-2 away at DR Congo in the African section of the World Cup qualifying.
The hosts went ahead through Cedric Bakambu on 26 minutes and doubled their lead seven minutes later as Youane Wissa, who joined Newcastle United from Brentford for £45million plus add ons, on transfer deadline day, netted a second.
However, the fightback started with Pape Gueye reduced arrears on 39 minutes before Nicolas Jackson, who was also on the move on September 1, going from Chelsea to Bayern Munich on a season-long loan, equalised on 53 minutes.
The dramatic turnaround was completed three minutes before full-time as Pape Matar Sarr of Tottenham Hotspur struck the winner for the Lions of Teranga.
Senegalese outlet DSports offered player ratings and when it came to the Blues pair, Ndiaye was given a score of 7 with Everton News relaying their verdict as: “Striking and creative, he showed off his technique and audacity. He put on a real performance in Pape Gueye’s goal.
“All he needs to do is work on his shot off the dribble at the edge of the box to become a constant threat to his opponents.”
Gueye was given a 5, and of the midfielder, who turns 36 later this month, they said: “In a sentinel position in front of the defence, he struggled to set the pace and impose his rhythm.
"Even though he raised his game a little more in the second half, his return to the starting XI was not really convincing.”
Like many of his Republic of Ireland team-mates, Jake O’Brien endured a tough night in Yerevan as their hopes of reaching a first World Cup since 2002 suffered a crushing blow with a 2-1 defeat to an Armenia side ranked 105th in the world, some 45 places below them.
A couple of goals either side of the interval with Eduard Spertsyan breaking the deadlock in the first half stoppage time from the penalty spot before Grant-Leon Ranos left the visitors with a mountain to climb when he made it 2-0 on 51 minutes, ensuring that Evan Ferguson’s sweeping finish six minutes later proved a mere consolation.
The Irish Times gave O’Brien – who was operating as the right-sided central defender in a 3-4-2-1 formation – a mark of just 3 in their player ratings, claiming he was “caught badly in behind for the home side’s second goal.” Rte largely agrees with this assessment, but gives his display a higher 5/10 despite having a “night to forget.”