Woooooooo let’s find out what happened.
Internationals
Maxwel Cornet sat for the Ivory Coast, which, duh, forgot he was injured. The Ivory Coast beat Malawi 3-0 and finished the first trip through the Round Robin in first place in Group D, one point ahead of Cameroon. They’ll rematch tomorrow at 12:00 PM EDT in Benin. That match is on ESPN+.
Wales drew with the Czech Republic while Connor Roberts and Matěj Vydra each got some run with their respective sides while Wayne Hennessey sat. The two remain tied for second place in Group E, though Wales has played one fewer match. The Welsh visit Estonia tomorrow. The Czechs play Belarus in Russia. Each game is on ESPN+ at 2:45 PM EDT. Next month, Wales will play Belgium in their extra match, which leaves the Czech Republic, which has the better goal differential at the moment, with the advantage. It appears that whichever doesn’t finish in second in that group will still make it to the March play-offs through the Nations League path, where they’ll each need to win twice to make the World Cup (twelve teams in that round, playing for four spots).
Ireland beat Azerbaijan 3-0 but was still eliminated. Nathan Collins did not play. They’ve got a friendly with Qatar on Tuesday in Dublin at 2:45 PM EDT on ESPN+.
Northern Ireland fell to Switzerland, 2-0, with Bailey Peacock-Farrell manning the net. They aren’t formally eliminated yet, but it’s close. They’ll visit Bulgaria on Tuesday at 2:45 PM EDT on ESPN+ hoping to stay alive into November.
Chris Wood scored for New Zealand as the lads beat Curaçao in a neutral-pitch friendly, 2-1. They’ll play Bahrain in Bahrain at 12:00 PM EDT on Tuesday for a friendly.
England is likely good to qualify, so we still might get Nick Pope (or James Tarkowski [or maybe someone else but that seems unlikely]) in the World Cup.
Partner Clubs
Cobh Ramblers (Ireland, second tier) got their first point since August and their first win since July, beating Cabinteely 2-1 on Friday to pull four points clear of last in the table with two matches to play (no relegation, though, I don’t believe). The rest were all idle, as was Burnley’s women’s team.
