Matheus Cunha was back playing international football on Thursday night as the forward came off the bench for Brazil in the closing minutes of their 1-1 draw with Venezuela.
Cunha is one of three of Wolves’ South Americans who are part of their national team squads for the October international period, alongside centre-backs Santiago Bueno and Yerson Mosquera – who is nearing the end of his year-long loan with FC Cincinnati in the MLS.
While in Europe, there was also a late Wales call up for goalkeeper Tom King, and wolves.co.uk rounds up the action which took place last night, as well as preview today’s fixtures which could see plenty of Old Gold stars add to their international caps.
Matheus Cunha | Brazil 1-1 Venezuela
Having come off the bench late on in Brazil’s 5-1 win over Bolivia to kick off his country’s 2026 World Cup qualification campaign, Cunha then missed out on the 1-0 win over Peru, but he was back on the pitch under Fernando Diniz last night. The forward featured for the final 11 minutes – coming on for Real Madrid attacker Vinicius Junior – with Brazil leading 1-0, however he was unable to find the crucial second goal which his country required. In the dying minutes of the game, Brazil suffered a late equaliser which saw Venezuela snatch a point. The result sees Brazil drop from the top spot of the CONMEBOL qualification standings as they were overtaken by an Argentina side with a 100 per cent record. Cunha will be hoping to be in from the start in the early hours of next Wednesday (18th October), as Brazil take on Santi Bueno’s Uruguay from 1am.
Yerson Mosquera & Santiago Bueno | Colombia 2-2 Uruguay
Two of Wolves’ centre-backs went head-to-head on Thursday night as Bueno’s Uruguay headed to Mosquera’s Colombia for another South American World Cup qualifier. Although Bueno was unable to add to his two international caps as he remained an unused substitute for Marcelo Bielsa’s side, Mosquera experienced a moment he has been waiting for his entire life as he came off the bench in the closing moments of the match to make his senior international debut. Mosquera’s introduction came just moments after Colombia goalkeeper Camilo Vargas was dismissed for a second yellow card, which also handed a penalty to Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez who dispatched the spot kick to make the final score 2-2. Both teams are in the top four in the qualification table, with Colombia just ahead in third with five points to Uruguay’s four points, which leaves them in fourth position heading into the next round of fixtures. Colombia are next in action at 1.30am on Wednesday as they face Ecuador.
Tom King | Wales 4-0 Gibraltar
Although he was initially on stand-by for the Wales squad this month, King was called back to represent his country earlier this week following an injury to Sheffield United goalkeeper Adam Davies, but the Wolves stopper is still yet to earn a first cap for his country. Having been part of 18 senior Wales camps, King might have thought he’d have got his chance as the Dragons took on Gibraltar in an international friendly on Wednesday evening. But it was his fellow keepers, Danny Ward and former Wolves man Wayne Hennessey, who shared responsibility between the nets as Wales ran out 4-0 winners in a dominant performance. King will hope that illusive first cap will come on Sunday (15th October, 7.45pm) as Wales turn their hands to Euro 2024 qualification as they face Croatia in Cardiff.
Coming up…
Wolves’ remaining internationals could all see action on the pitch during the next few days, with Hee Chan Hwang hoping his Old Gold goalscoring form can be replicated for his country when he starts for South Korea in a friendly against Tunisia at 12pm today.
Tonight will see the Portugal quartet of Jose Sa, Nelson Semedo, Toti and Pedro Neto in contention to face Slovakia in a Euro 2024 qualifier from 7.45pm, while at the same time, Matt Doherty will be with Ireland for their Group B qualification clash at home to Greece.
Sasa Kalajdzic could also make his first appearance for Austria in more than a year when his country go up against Belgium from 7.45pm, before Boubacar Traore looks to earn a second cap for Mali in their friendly fixture against Uganda (8pm).
Wolves will also hope to have two players in under-21 Euros qualification this afternoon as Joe Hodge and the Republic of Ireland under-21s go up against Latvia at 1pm, while Fabio Silva and Portugal under-21s face Belarus from 5.30pm.
