The Football Faithful
·13 November 2024
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Yahoo sportsThe Football Faithful
·13 November 2024
November’s international break is here and the year’s final pause to the domestic season has some fascinating fixtures on offer.
Here are five of the best games to watch during November’s international break.
Can England exact revenge on Greece? The Three Lions suffered a shock loss at home to Greece last month as Vangelis Pavlidis’s double downed Lee Carsley’s men at Wembley. The result leaves England facing a battle to secure top spot and Nations League promotion.
A victory by a two-goal margin or more in Athens will take England top of the group. However, Greece have lost just once in their last 10 and are on a run of five straight wins.
Interim manager Lee Carsley has had to deal with a wealth of withdrawals from his squad, including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer.
Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers, who could debut, is one of several new faces in the squad.
Morgan Rogers gets his first senior England call-up for the upcoming games vs Greece and Ireland 📞–
Denmark will aim to upset the European champions as they look to challenge Spain for first place in the group.
Spain secured a narrow 1-0 win over Denmark in Murcia last month to open up a three-point lead with two games to go. Luis de la Fuente could hand a debut to in-form forward Samu Aghehowa. After a summer switch to Chelsea broke down, the 20-year-old joined FC Porto and has since scored 11 goals in 12 appearances for the Portuguese side.
Italy are rebuilding from a disappointing Euro 2024 with the Azzurri unbeaten since their last-16 elimination against Switzerland in the summer. Luciano Spalletti’s side sit top of the standings in their Nations League group, despite being drawn against France, Belgium and Israel.
Italy beat France 3-1 in a statement performance in September and will look to repeat the feat this month.
France, who have opted to leave Kylian Mbappe out of their squad this month, have racked up three consecutive wins since that setback.
Another battle for top spot could take place in Split this month. Just three points separate Croatia and Portugal in their Nations League group, though the teams must first navigate clashes against Poland and Scotland respectively before their showdown.
Portugal flattered to deceive at the European Championship and were held by Scotland last month, while Croatia are currently aiming to bridge the gap between an ageing Golden Generation and the new talent coming through the ranks.
One of South America’s biggest fixtures takes place this month as Brazil meet Uruguay in World Cup qualification.
The five-time world champions have endured a torrid start to their campaign with four defeats from 10 games, a record that leaves Brazil fourth in the standings. Uruguay sit just above Brazil on goal difference and beat the Selecao earlier in the campaign, while also eliminating the Brazilians from the Copa America in the summer.
However, Marcelo Biela’s side have endured a nightmare run of form of late. La Celeste have not won inside 90 minutes since the Copa America’s group stage – a run of seven games. They’ve failed to score in six of them.