Odegaard update, Zubimendi impresses and Saliba rested – Arsenal internationals round-up | OneFootball

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard issued an update on his injury recovery as Norway beat Italy 4-1 to seal their first World Cup appearance since 1998, with eight other Arsenal players involved in action for their national teams this weekend.

Odegaard, who has been sidelined with a knee injury since early October, travelled with the Norway squad to support them in person as they secured a historic milestone.

In an interview before the match with TV2 sport, he said: “[The recovery] it’s moving forward. Today’s match came a bit too early. But it’s starting to look better, so hopefully I’ll be back soon.”

The Gunners had already been hit by injury worries over the international break, with Riccardo Calafiori returning early from international duty with Italy, and Gabriel’s withdrawal in the second half of Brazil’s 2–0 win over Senegal at the Emirates Stadium added to the concern, with scans confirming a thigh injury.

Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze both featured for 62 minutes in England’s 2-0 win over Albania, while Bukayo Saka came on to replace Eze for the final 30 minutes.

Martin Zubimendi was on the scoresheet as Spain ran out 4-0 winners over Georgia, with Mikel Merino alongside him in midfield. David Raya was an unused substitute, as Luis de la Fuente continued to show a preference for Unai Simon as the number one for La Roja.

Christian Norgaard featured for 70 minutes as Denmark drew 2-2 against Belarus, while Leandro Trossard played the same amount of minutes up front for Belgium in their 1-1 draw with Kazakhstan.

William Saliba watched from the bench as France beat Azerbaijan, with Didier Deschamps opting to go with with Lucas Hernandez and Ibrahima Konate in central defence instead.

In the younger age groups, Max Dowman grabbed an assist as England U19s thrashed Latvia U19s 7-0, with Khari Ranson keeping a clean sheet between the sticks.

Meanwhile, Jack Porter also kept a clean sheet as England U17s saw off South Korea 2-0 to reach the round of 16 of the U17 World Cup.

Dowman, Ranson and Porter are all back in action on Tuesday, as the U19s face Scotland and the U17s continue their World Cup campaign against Austria.

Jurrien Timber is expected to take part in the Netherlands’ fixture against Lithuania on Monday evening, while Zubimendi, Merino, Raya, Norgaard, Trossard and Piero Hincapie all have one final game remaining of the international break for their respective national teams on Tuesday.