Luka Vuskovic made his first-ever start for Croatia on Friday evening and helped his nation qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
The 18-year-old defender, currently on loan at Bundesliga side Hamburg, featured for the full 90 minutes on what was only his second cap, as his side defeated the Faroe Islands 3-1 to punch their ticket for next summer’s finals.
Needing just a draw to qualify for the tournament, Croatia – with former Spurs Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic starting alongside Vuskovic – suffered a setback in Rijeka when Geza David Turi opened the scoring for the Faroe Islands before levelling through Manchester City’s Jokso Gvardiol.
Second-half strikes from Petar Musa and Nikola Vlasic turned the game in Croatia’s favour as they opened up an unassailable six-point lead on the Czech Republic at the top of Group L to reach their fourth successive World Cup finals.
Meanwhile, Jamie Donley stepped off the bench for the closing stages of Northern Ireland’s 1-0 defeat to Slovakia.
The Group A clash in Kosice was goalless when Donley – on loan at Stoke City – won his fifth cap when he came on for Jamie Reid with 12 minutes remaining. But they were dealt a blow in stoppage time when Tomas Bobček broke the deadlock, while Sunderland’s Dan Ballard was sent off shortly after.
However, there was some good news for Northern Ireland as they secured a World Cup play-off place by winning their Nations League group after Croatia’s triumph over Faroe Islands.
[Yang Min-Hyeok wins second cap for South Korea](https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2025/november/internationals-yang-makes-second-appearance-for-south-korea/)