World Cup qualification is in full swing for several Wolves player this week, with Emmanuel Agbadou marking his return to the Ivory Coast side by netting his second international goal.
Agbadou was an unused substitute for his country’s qualification matches in September, but he was back in the starting 11 for the visit to the Seychelles, and it didn’t take him long to mark his return in style.
The defender was one of eight members of Vitor Pereira’s squad aiming to put their countries one step closer to next summer’s World Cup over the weekend and wolves.co.uk rounds-up all the action involving Old Gold players.
Emmanuel Agbadou | Seychelles 0-7 Ivory Coast
Already leading 1-0 thanks to an Ibrahim Sangare penalty, there was just 16 minutes on the clock when Agbadou made it two to Ivory coast. A corner was diverted into his path by former Wolves man Willy Boly, and from six yards out, the defender lashed his shot into the back of the net. Agbadou played a key role in Ivory Coast’s third just after the half hour mark when he was played in on goal, but he played a neat pass across the box to Oumar Diakite to tap home. Leading four at the break, Agbadou was withdrawn, but that didn’t stop his side adding another three goals before full time, with the win seeing Ivory Coast top CAF qualification Group F by one point ahead of Gabon with just one game remaining against Kenya on Tuesday (8pm).
🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire are one game away from #FIFAWorldCup qualification!#WeAre26 pic.twitter.com/D2sp6NMwQD
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) October 10, 2025
David Moller Wolfe & Jorgen Strand Larsen | Norway 5-0 Israel
Norway are also topping their qualification group, and put themselves in the driving seat for a spot at their first World Cup since 1998 thanks to a 5-0 drubbing of Israel. David Moller Wolfe was in from the start at left back as he played the opening 75 minutes, before a mass of substitutions when already five goals to the good saw his Old Gold teammate Jorgen Strand Larsen take to the field. The three points see Norway top UEFA qualification Group I, six points clear of Italy who have a game in hand, and guarantees the team of at least a play-off place. Booking a place at the World Cup will have to wait until November, as Norway will take on New Zealand in a friendly on Tuesday (5pm).
Tolu Arokodare | Lesotho 1-2 Nigeria
After a slow start to their qualification campaign, Tolu Arokodare and Nigeria have a difficult task ahead of them to reach next summer’s World Cup, but three wins and draw from their last four, including a 2-1 win over Lesotho on Friday evening, has seen the side close the gap at the top of CAF Group C. Arokodare played the opening 60 minutes for his country as Nigeria claimed a vital victory which leaves them third in the group, three points behind Benin and one behind South Africa, heading into their final qualification clash against the group leaders tomorrow evening (5pm), where a win by two goals would guarantee a play-off spot and could even see Nigeria qualify outright, depending on South Africa’s result against Rwanda.
Lights. Laughter. Hard work.
— 🇳🇬 Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) October 13, 2025
Fresh pictures from last night’s session #SoarSuperEagles #Naija4theWin #fifawcq2026 pic.twitter.com/ZAESFsR4eG
Marshall Munetsi & Tawanda Chirewa | Zimbabwe 0-0 South Africa
Despite being unable to qualify for the World Cup after just one win from their qualification campaign, Marshall Munetsi and Tawanda Chirewa gave Arokodare’s Nigeria a big boost in their hopes of getting out of the group by holding South Africa to a goalless draw in CAF Group C. Munetsi played the entire 90 minutes in centre midfield for his country on Friday evening, while Chirewa lasted an hour on the left wing and was withdrawn just moments before Zimbabwe had Knowledge Munsona dismissed. But despite playing almost half an hour with 10 men, Zimbabwe held on for a point – but it still won’t be enough to not finish bottom of the group with one final match to come against Lesotho at 5pm tomorrow, with Lesotho sat four points ahead.
Elsewhere
In his and Czech Republic’s second game of this international period on Sunday evening, Ladislav Krejci played the entire 90 minutes at left centre-back for his country as they suffered a shock defeat in the Faroe Islands. The Faroes netted an 81st minute winner in Torshavn to put them just one point behind Krejci’s second placed side in UEFA qualification Group L. Croatia are still top of the group by three points, and with a game in hand.
Santi Bueno was in friendly action for Uruguay on Friday as he played the second half of a 1-0 win over the Dominican Republic out in Malaysia, while he’ll be hoping to be in from the start of a friendly against Uzbekistan this afternoon (1.45pm). Yerson Mosquera was an unused sub as Colombia hammered Mexico 4-0 in a friendly. He has another chance of getting on the pitch when his country take on Canada in the early hours of Wednesday (1am).
Jose Sa was kept on the bench as Portugal claimed a late victory over Republic of Ireland in Lisbon, which saw former Wolves captain Ruben Neves net the winning goal to keep their country top of UEFA Group F ahead of another qualification clash with Hungary coming up on Tuesday (7.45pm). While Fer Lopez came off the bench at half time of Spain U21s 4-1 win over Norway. He will hope to start in Spain’s U21 qualification clash with Finland tomorrow evening (5.30pm).
Coming up
Five other Wolves players will hope to be back in international action before returning to Compton Park later this week, with two of those in World Cup qualification games in both Africa and the Caribbean. Jackson Tchatchoua and Cameroon have the chance to book their place at the World Cup in their match with Angola later today (5pm), while Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Haiti face a crucial clash with Honduras in the early hours of Tuesday morning (1am).
While hoping to get some playing time in their countries friendlies tomorrow are Andre and Joao Gomes, as Brazil take on Japan from 11.30am, and Hee Chan Hwang, who is with the South Korea squad for their home game against Paraguay (12pm).
