Sunderland international round-up: World Cup heartbreak for duo, Ellborg one step closer | OneFootball

Sunderland duo Trai Hume and Dan Ballard suffered World Cup heartbreak as Northern Ireland lost 2-0 to Italy in their play-off semi-final in Bergamo on Thursday.

Sunderland Echo reports that Northern Ireland reached the play-offs via the UEFA Nations League. They topped League C Group 3 with 11 points.

Hume captained Michael O’Neill’s side and played the full 90 on the right of a back three. He produced a standout display with a goal-line clearance, strong duel numbers and 82% passing.

Second-half strikes from Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean settled it. Ballard was unavailable through injury, and he and Hume now miss out on a place at this summer’s FIFA World Cup in North America.

Melker Ellborg was an unused substitute as Sweden beat Ukraine 3-1 in World Cup qualifying. Viktor Gyokeres had them 3-0 up by the 73rd minute, before Matviy Ponomarenko’s late consolation. Sweden face Poland in Solna on Tuesday, with the winner qualifying.

Signed from Malmo in January to back up Robin Roefs, the 22-year-old has already made four Sunderland appearances due to Roefs’ injury, including a four-save clean sheet at Leeds.

Elsewhere, Noah Sadiki featured in DR Congo’s win over Bermuda in Mexico. Chris Rigg played the last 20 minutes as England U19s lost 2-0 to Serbia, and Milan Aleksic started in Serbia U21s’ 2-2 draw with Kyrgyzstan U23s.

Source: Sunderland Echo