🌍 🏆 International Awards: Shock in Brazil, Wembley boos, wizard Wilson | OneFootball

Qualification for Euro 2024 is coming to an end whilst South America are battling it out for World Cup 2026.

Here’s our favourite moments from this past international weekend.

Player of the Weekend

The importance of Sunday’s game against Croatia could not be overstated for Wales.

Before the match a report in the Sun had claimed that the Welsh FA were looking to replace coach Rob Page with Roy Keane, disrupting preparations for one of their most crucial games in years.

Wales’s loss at home to Armenia in June seemed to be the death knell for their chances of making Euro 2024 with Turkey and Croatia going clear.

But two wins on the bounce against Latvia and Gibraltar had put Page’s men in a position where a win against the Croats in Cardiff would put them, unexpectedly, in second place.

And win they did with Harry Wilson filling the Gareth Bale-shaped hole that had been in the side since his retirement post-World Cup.

The Fulham midfielder was sensational as he scored both goals in a 2-1 win to hand Wales an advantage with two games to go in qualification.

Team of the Weekend

Goal of the Weekend

Kylian Mbappé boosted his Ballon d’Or credentials this week with another stunning performance for France.

The Paris Saint-Germain striker netted both goals as Les Bleus booked their place at Euro 2024 with a 2-1 win over Netherlands in Amsterdam.

Both goals were archetypical of the flying forward, but it was Mbappé’s second that really took the breath away.

Racing in from the left-hand side, Mbappé found himself in space on the edge of the area and struck a first time effort over and around Bart Verbruggen in the Dutch goal.

A truly sensational strike from arguably the best player in the world right now.

Result of the Weekend

A result that was cheered from Madrid to Montrose, Seville to Skye and Bilbao to Bannockburn.

Gavi was the hero of the hour on Sunday as Spain beat Norway in Oslo to book La Roja’s place at Euro 2024.

The win though, also secured Scotland’s place at a second successive European Championships, this time without the use of a play-off.

The performances Scotland have put in under Steve Clarke this time around have been nothing short of extraordinary and a place in Germany next summer is more than deserved.

And this time, without the pandemic in effect, the Tartan Army can truly travel in the numbers they usually provide.

What a summer it’s going to be.

Surprise of the Weekend

Undoubtedly the shock of the weekend came on Friday as Venezuela did something they hadn’t done in over 30 years and got a point in Brazil.

Venezuela are the only South American nation not to qualify for a Wold Cup but things are looking up for Fernando Batista and his side.

The Vinotino have so far won one, drawn one and lost one of their three matches but produced a gutsy, backs-to-the-wall display against the mighty Brazilians.

Eduard Bello’s brilliant late overhead kick to made history as the minnows claimed a vital point.

Venezuela host Chile on Tuesday, a game that will truly test their World Cup potential.

Stat of the Weekend

Friday the 13th was lucky for some as Portugal booked their place at Euro 2024 with a narrow win over Slovakia.

It was first versus second in Group J with the Selecão knowing that a victory would secure their spot in Germany.

Gonçalo Ramos opened the scoring but it was Cristiano Ronaldo who really stood out as the 38-year-old striker added two more to his international tally for a 3-2 win.

In fact, a stat from Bleacher Report revealed that Ronaldo has now scored 70 goals for Portugal … since turning 30.

That’s more than entire international tallies for the top scorer of 197 countries, including: Germany (Miroslav Klose); France (Olivier Giroud) and England (Harry Kane).

Astonishing.

Quote of the Weekend

England beat Australia 1-0 on Friday as they geared up to take on Italy in their qualifier this coming week.

But the real story came midway through the second half as Jordan Henderson, having moved from Liverpool to Al Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia this summer, was booed by the home fans at Wembley.

Why the Three Lions fans did that is up for interpretation but Henderson himself commented to the media on Sunday about the situation.

“Everybody has got their own opinion,” he told reporters.

“I love playing for England, I have done for many years, that’s why I’m still here. I still want to play for England for as long as I possibly can and give everything for the team, for my country.

“It’s not nice, your own fans, if they were booing.”

Asked if he understood why fans might boo him, Henderson replied “not really, I don’t know”, but told it was likely a result of his move to Saudi he continued: “Yeah, so… if people want to boo if I’m playing in a different country, that’s fine.”