The defender was one of a dozen Wolves players on international duty this week, with many of those in the hunt to book their spot in the plane to Qatar next winter.
With the international break now complete, wolves.co.uk rounds up the action involving Bruno Lage’s players which took place during the last few days.
Conor Coady | San Marino 0-10 England
Coady played the entire 90 minutes and captained England for the last half an hour – after Harry Kane, following his four goals, was replaced – as the Three Lions claimed their largest ever competitive victory having put 10 past minnows San Marino in Serravalle. The country’s biggest international win, and the first time they’d hit double figures since a 10-0 victory over the USA in 1964 (read more about that here), secured England’s place at the World Cup finals. Gareth Southgate’s side topped the Group I qualification table, six points ahead of Poland, who had to settle for a place in the play-offs.
Willy Boly | Cameroon 1-0 Ivory Coast
Coady’s fellow Wolves defender Boly will not be joining him in Qatar after the Ivory Coast finished runners up of their CAF qualifying Group D, bringing an end to their hopes of reaching the World Cup. The Elephants, who went into their final second round group clash one point ahead of opponents Cameroon, needed just a point to secure their place in the third qualifying round. But Karl Toko Ekambi’s goal on 21 minutes was enough for Cameroon to snatch top spot from Boly’s side and progress to Africa’s final qualifying round.
Romain Saiss | Morocco 3-0 Guinea
One Wolves man who is still in with the hope of making it to next winter’s World Cup from CAF qualifying is the third of the old gold’s centre-half union in action this week in Saiss. With Morocco’s place in the third round of qualifying already confirmed thanks to five wins from five, the captain was given a rest for the final Group I clash with Guinea, as his country ran out 3-0 winners. Morocco now face a two legged play-off in March against one of the other nine group winners to secure one of the five African places in Qatar.
Raul Jimenez | Canada 2-1 Mexico
After falling to USA at the weekend, Jimenez and Mexico suffered an even bigger blow to their World Cup hopes by going down to Canada in Edmonton. The Wolves number nine led the line once again for his country in the early hours of Wednesday morning, but was unable to help Mexico to a much-needed victory. A pair of goals from Besiktas’ Cyle Larin put Canada two up and Hector Herrera’s 90th minute consolation came too late for El Tri to earn a positive result. Mexico have moved down to third in CONCACAF qualifying, level on points with fourth placed Panama, but only the top three teams are guaranteed a place at the World Cup. However, Jimenez’s side still have six games remaining, which will be placed in late January/early February and March 2022.
Hee Chan Hwang | Iraq 0-3 South Korea
South Korea and Hwang have one foot in next winter’s World Cup having claimed their fourth victory in the third round of AFC qualifying, thanks to a 3-0 win over Iraq. Having scored the winner for his country last time out, the Wolves winger was this time a provider as he got the assist for Korea’s third and final goal. Currently sat second in Group A – in which the top two from each of the two Asian groups qualify for the finals, plus the play-off winner between the third placed side from each group – and eight points clear of third-placed UAE, Korea have four matches remaining, but will be confident in not throwing away their advantage.
Leander Dendoncker | Wales 1-1 Belgium
Belgium already had their place in Qatar secured ahead of their final qualifying Group E fixture away in Cardiff, but Dendoncker once again had to settle for a place among the substitutes as Wales secured the point they needed to earn a seeded spot in the UEFA play-offs. Following first-half goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Keiffer Moore, the Wolves midfielder finally got off the bench for the final 30 minutes as he made his first appearance for his country in four internationals.
Ki-Jana Hoever | Gibraltar U21 0-7 Netherlands U21
Having been handed his first start for Netherlands under-21s, it didn’t take long for Hoever to score his first goal for his country’s highest side at youth level, to give Jong Oranje a 2-0 lead. Not just content with scoring, Hoever also added two assists later in the first-half as he set up Joshua Zirkzee for a pair of goals to make it five. Hoever played the entire 90 minutes for Netherlands as they maintained second place in U21 Euro Championship qualifying Group 5, three points behind leaders Switzerland.
Ki-Jana Hoever scored his first goal for @OnsOranje under-21s this afternoon in a 7-0 win over Gibraltar.
— Wolves (@Wolves) November 15, 2021
Congratulations, Ki! 👊
🇳🇱📸 pic.twitter.com/qJtRQNmVw6
Fabio Silva | Portugal U21 6-0 Cyprus U21
Portugal under-21s kept their place at the top of U21 Euro Championship qualifying Group 4 with a dominant win at home against Cyprus. Silva had an opportunity to add to his goal tally for his country but missed a penalty when the scoreline was at 2-0, pulling a good save from Cyprus keeper Stefanos Kittos. However, it was not to matter as Portugal romped to a heavy win.
Morgan Gibbs-White | Georgia U21 3-2 England U21
There was an upset for England under-21s and Gibbs-White as the young lions fell to a loss on the road in Georgia. The Wolves Academy graduate, currently on loan at Sheffield United, started the match but was brought off on 66 minutes after Georgia had gone three goals up.
