Internationals | Ait-Nouri and Lemina return to national teams

14th November 2023

With the Premier League set to take a week off for the latest round of international fixtures, nine members of Gary O’Neil’s first-team squad have departed with the hope of representing their countries.

Rayan Ait-Nouri returns to the Algeria fold having missed out on the October internationals through injury. The full-back will be aiming to add to the three caps he has earned so far in the qualification matches for the 2026 World Cup against Somalia and Mozambique.

Also back on international duty this week is Mario Lemina. The midfielder has been in stunning form for Wolves recently and joins up with Gabon ahead of their World Cup qualifiers against Kenya and Burundi.

Hee Chan Hwang is also in World Cup qualification with South Korea during the next week. After a goal in his last outing for his country, Hwang reunites with his national team for matches against Singapore and China.

Several members of O’Neil’s squad are finishing their Euro 2024 qualification campaigns during the next few days, with Matt Doherty and Ireland taking on the Netherlands in the final game in Group B before facing a friendly against New Zealand.

Austria and Portugal have already booked their place at Euro 2024, but Sasa Kalajdzic will be hoping his country can top qualification Group F when they go head-to-head with Estonia, before a friendly with Germany, while Jose Sa and Toti are part of the Portugal squad for qualification matches against Liechtenstein and Iceland.

Sa’s fellow goalkeeper Tom King has been selected as part of the Wales squad for their crucial qualification games against Armenia and Turkey. Two wins from two will almost certainly be required if King’s side are to book their place in Germany next summer.

Finally, Fabio Silva has been named in the Portugal’s under-21 squad with just the one U21 Euro qualifier for his team this month, that coming against Greece in Tripoli next Monday.

South Korea | Hwang