Latest. International Magpies: Miggy's Paraguay beat Bruno's Brazil in World Cup qualifier

Miguel Almirón (Paraguay v Brazil)
Published
5 days ago

A number of Magpies stars are in action for their countries during August's international break - here, we keep tabs on how they're getting on during the break from domestic action...

Miguel Almirón

The United winger has been part of his country's squad for their 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil, with the 30-year-old winger lining up against club teammate Guimarães.

La Albirroja drew 0-0 with Uruguay at Estadio Centenario on Saturday, 7th September (kick-off 12:30am BST), with Almirón playing for the first 82 minutes.

Paraguay claimed an impressive 1-0 win against Brazil in Asunción on Wednesday, 11th September, with Almirón starting the World Cup qualifier before being substituted in the 86th minute.

Bruno Guimarães

Midfielder Guimarães - recently handed the Magpies' armband by Eddie Howe - was called up to the Brazil squad for their 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay.

The Seleção narrowly beat Ecuador 1-0 at Couto Pereira in Curitiba on Saturday, 7th September, with Guimarães starting the game. He came off in the 62nd minute.

Brazil suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat against Miguel Almirón's Paraguay at Estadio Defensores del Chaco in Asunción on Wednesday, 11th September, with Guimarães replaced at half-time.

Anthony Gordon, Nick Pope and Tino Livramento

Gordon was arguably England's star man as England beat Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday, 7th September. He played for the opening 77 minutes in his fifth Three Lions appearance and was heavily involved in the opening goal - scored by Declan Rice - and a threat to the home defence throughout.

Full back Livramento has been included in the senior England squad for the first time after his impressive start to the campaign for the Magpies, but will have to wait for his senior international debut. The 21-year-old has been capped by his country from under-15 to under-21 level.

The Three Lions' interim boss Lee Carsley has also handed goalkeeper Pope a recall, with the last of the stopper's caps coming in September 2022.

England recorded a 2-0 victory against Finland at Wembley on Tuesday, 10th September as Harry Kane netted twice on his 100th appearance for his country. Gordon started the UEFA Nations League encounter before being replaced in the 66th minute by Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze.

Pope and Livramento were both unused substitutes.

Odysseas Vlachodimos

The goalkeeper, who joined United from Nottingham Forest earlier in the summer, kept a clean sheet in Greece's 3-0 win over Finland in a UEFA Nations League clash at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus on Saturday, 7th September.

Odysseas then recorded back-to-back clean sheets as his country beat Republic of Ireland 2-0 at Dublin's Aviva Stadium on Tuesday, 10th September (kick-off 7:45pm BST).

Lewis Hall

Full back Hall impressed for England Under-21s as they thrashed Austria 4-1 in their UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier at Kenilworth Road on Monday, with the Magpies man recording two fine assists.

Hall's two superb second half deliveries from the left were tucked away by James McAtee and then Tom Fellows as England strolled to victory at the home of Luton Town, with the United full back playing the full 90 minutes for his side.

Earlier in the week, he came on as a 69th minute substitute against Northern Ireland as the Young Lions were held to a 0-0 draw by a side managed by former Newcastle goalkeeper Tommy Wright.

Sandro Tonali

After his return to competitive action against Nottingham Forest last month, midfielder Tonali was recalled to the Italy squad for their UEFA Nations League clashes with France at the Parc des Princes on Friday, 6th September and Israel at the Bozsik Aréna on Monday, 9th September (kick-off 7:45pm BST).

And the former AC Milan playmaker claimed an outrageous assist in his first senior appearance for his country since 2023, flicking the ball into the path of Federico Dimarco to volley home and cancel out Bradley Barcola's early opener for France.

Tonali played the full 90 minutes as Italy won 3-1 in Paris on his 16th cap for the Azzurri.

Then, on Monday night, Tonali started once again for Italy, getting another 90 minutes under his belt as his side beat Israel 2-1 in Budapest. He went close to netting his first goal since his return to action, but his close range finish - which would have been Luciano Spalletti's men's third of the night - was ruled out for offside.

Alexander Isak

Isak, who netted the Magpies' winner against Tottenham Hotspur, scored twice for Sweden as they beat Azerbaijan at Baku's Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium on Thursday, 5th September.

Both goals came in the second half, and Isak was then brought down for a penalty - but allowed Viktor Gyökeres to take the kick, which made it 3-0. The hosts pulled one back two minutes later, but there were no further goals. Isak played the full game; Emil Krafth was initially named in the squad, but withdrew due to a minor injury.

Isak continued his goalscoring form as Sweden beat Estonia 3-0 at the Friends Arena in Stockholm on Sunday, 8th September in another Nations League fixture.

The hosts raced into a three-goal lead before half-time, with Gyökeres netting twice either side of Isak's strike, with the Magpies forward playing 79 minutes.

Trevan Sanusi and Leo Shahar

Sanusi and Shahar, who both joined the Magpies from Birmingham City and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively last summer, were named in England's Under-18s squad for Lafarge International Tournament matches against Portugal, Switzerland and hosts France.

The Young Lions faced their Portugal counterparts at the Beaublanc Stadium on Wednesday, 4th September, with Sanusi starting on the bench and Shahar not involved.

England then faced Switzerland at the same venue on Friday, 6th September - with both Newcastle youngsters starting the game.

And Sanusi opened the scoring just before half time, cutting in from the left and drilling home from just outside the box. However, Switzerland equalised late on, before a penalty shoot-out - which finished 5-5 - took place.

England's youngsters ended their trip to France with a 1-1 draw against the hosts on Sunday, 8th September.

Shahar started the contest in Limoges, playing the opening 56 minutes, while Sanusi was introduced from the bench at the restart as Liam Bramley's side beat their French counterparts 2-0 on penalties to claim second place at the Lafarge Tournament.

William Osula

Recent signing Osula scored for Denmark's Under-21s in a UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier against their Iceland counterparts on Thursday.

Osula opened the scoring with an accurate left-footed finish in the 16th minute in Reykjavik, but Denmark went on to lose 4-2 - their first defeat of the qualifying campaign. Next up for the young forward is Czech Republic's under-21s at home on Tuesday.

Martin Dúbravka

Goalkeeper Dúbravka kept a clean sheet as Slovakia got their UEFA Nations League campaign off to a winning start.

He played the whole game as his country beat Estonia 1-0 at the A. Le Coq Arena on Thursday, 5th September.

Dúbravka kept another clean sheet on Sunday, 8th September as the Falcons beat Azerbaijan 2-0 at Košická futbalová aréna.

Jamal Lewis

Full back Lewis, who has just joined São Paulo on loan for the season, is a regular in the Northern Ireland squad and came off the bench in the 57th minute as Northern Ireland beat Luxembourg at Windsor Park on Thursday, 5th September.

Lewis claimed a 38th senior international cap during Northern Ireland's 1-0 defeat against Bulgaria at the Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv on Sunday, 8th September, with the Luton full-back playing the full game.

Alex Murphy

The Irish defender, capable of playing as a centre-back or left-back, was named in Republic of Ireland's under-21s squad for their Under-21 European Championship qualifiers against Turkey and Latvia.

The young Boys in Green beat Turkey 1-0 at the Esenler Erokspor Stadium in Istanbul on Friday, 6th September but Murphy - who has been sidelined due to injury for most of the season so far - not involved.

Murphy was not named in his country's squad during a 2-2 draw against Latvia at the Tallaght Stadium in Dublin on Tuesday, 10th September as Jim Crawford's group aim to become the first Irish under-21s side to reach the European Championships.

Travis Hernes

Young midfielder Hernes was been called up to Norway's Under-20 squad for their friendly against Portugal on Thursday, 5th September.

He played the first 57 minutes of a 2-1 defeat in Faro.

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