With World Cup qualification on the line during this November period, it was one which many of the Arsenal first team were involved in. A friendly between Brazil and Senegal would also see the first international game played at Emirates Stadium since 2018.
England manager Thomas Tuchel said that he wanted to see more goals out of Bukayo Saka for the national team.
He rose to that challenge with a brilliant opening goal in the 2-0 win against Serbia.
An effort from left back Nico O’Reilly deflected into Saka’s path and his first time volley went into the bottom corner.
Saka also played an important role off the bench against Albania as his corner led to the first goal. It was flicked on by Albania defender Naser Aliji and tapped home by captain Harry Kane.
Eberechi Eze got his third goal of the World Cup qualifiers with the second goal in the win for Serbia. The ball was played into his path by Phil Foden and he whipped his shot into the top corner.
Though there was to be no goal or assist for Declan Rice during the international break, it was quite an important two games for **Thomas Tuchel**’s team selection for the World Cup.
As long as he is fit, it’s very much certain that Rice will be occupying one of the midfield places in the starting 11, the interesting debate is who will be starting with him.
In the Serbia game, the England manager continued with Elliot Anderson as Rice’s partner while in the 2-0 win over Albania, it was Adam Wharton that started.
Ethan Nwaneri (U21) (158 minutes - 1 goal)
Defending champions England continued their unbeaten start to U21 Euro qualifying with a 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland and a 4-0 win in Slovakia.
Though he wasn’t on the scoresheet against Ireland, Nwaneri scored a brilliant goal in the Slovakia game. Played over the top by **Sheffield United**’s Sydie Peck, the 18 year old controlled the ball well and lifted it over the keeper to make it 2-0.
It’s been a new challenge making the move from playing at right wing to playing in midfield but Nwaneri has been improving game by game and will be hoping to take these U21 performances and build on them during a busy winter period for the Gunners.
Spain
Martín Zubimendi (90 minutes - 1 goal)
Automatic World Cup qualification was on the line for Spain but a 4-0 win over Georgia and 2-2 draw with Turkey was enough for the European Champions to seal top spot.
From Arsenal’s point of view, they’ll be relieved that Martín Zubimendi was only needed for the win over Georgia, a game in which he showed his attacking capabilities alongside his defensive contributions.
The ball was brilliantly flicked into his path by PSG midfielder, Fabian Ruiz, and Zubimendi finished it like he was Fernando Torres, flicking it over the head of Giorgi Marmadashvili.
No goal contribution for Merino, but he ended up finishing as the joint top scorer for Spain in the qualifiers with him and Mikel Oyarzabal each scoring six goals across the six matches.
What was a meant to be special game for Gabriel turned into a bit of a nightmare for both him and Arsenal.
The friendly against Senegal was the first international match at Emirates Stadium since a Neymar penalty was enough for Brazil to beat Uruguay back in 2018.
Brazil started the first half brilliantly and goals from Estêvão and Casemiro gave them a 2-0 lead.
Gabriel was forced off after 64 minutes with an injury and it was revealed that he had suffered a thigh injury. The extent of it wasn’t known until Tuesday where according to The Athletic, concerns rose that he could miss between four to eight weeks with an abductor injury.
William Saliba (90 minutes)
France sealed their place at the World Cup with wins over Ukraine (4-0) and Azerbaijan (3-1).
Saliba was only needed for the first game against Ukraine which is a good thing for Arsenal when you consider the injury sustained by his centre back partner.
Jurrien Timber played in both of the Netherlands final qualification matches against Poland and Lithuania as they sealed their spot at the 2026 World Cup, which included him playing the full 90 minutes in the draw vs Poland.