Arsenal Diary: What’s in store this week | News

With the final international break of 2023 upon us, here’s what to look out for regarding the Gunners called up to represent their nations.

Martin Odegaard has withdrawn from international duty with Norway to allow him time to recover from a recent concussion and an ongoing hip issue.

There’s an important UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier for Jakub Kiwior and Poland coming up on Friday night. They face Czech Republic and, should they beat Czechia, they will have a better chance of qualifying for the tournament next week.

In Group C, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ukraine are three points ahead of Italy but Italy have a game in hand. Jorginho has been called up by Italy, whose medical staff are assessing him ahead of their fixtures. The two countries meet next Monday night.

It’s going to be tricky for Iceland, who Alex Runarsson has been called up for, but still mathematically possible, to qualify for Euro 2024 in their final two qualifiers. They must beat Slovakia and Portugal and hope that other countries drop points in order to be in with a chance.

Our Brazilian trio of Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus have big World Cup 26 qualifiers against Colombia and leaders Argentina coming up. Brazil are currently third in the table.

The November international break represents the start of World Cup qualifying for Japan (Takehiro Tomiyasu) and Egypt (Mohamed Elneny).

Aaron Ramsdale, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka have all been called up for England, who have already secured qualification to Euro 2024.

Belgium have already qualified for the competition as well and are top of Group F ahead of their final game against Azerbaijan, following a friendly with Serbia. Leandro Trossard has been called up for the Belgian national team.

William Saliba and France are in the same boat, top of Group B and able to play their final two Euros qualifiers knowing that they’ve booked their place in the competition.

Spain (David Raya) are playing for pride having already qualified for the Euros from Group A ahead of games against Cyprus and Georgia.

As for Estonia and Karl Hein, they have already been eliminated.

For Germany, who host Euro 2024 and therefore don’t have to worry about qualifying, there are two friendly games over the next two weeks that Kai Havertz could be involved in.

Where and when our internationals are playing

All times BST

Wednesday, November 15

Belgium (Trossard) v Serbia
Friendly | Brussels | 7.45pm

Thursday, November 16

Japan (Tomiyasu) v Myanmar
World Cup 26 qualifier | Suita | 10.02am

Egypt (Elneny) v Djibouti
World Cup 26 qualifier | Nasr | 4pm

Cyprus v Spain (Raya)
Euro 2024 qualifier | Kolossi | 5pm

Estonia (Hein) v Austria
Euro 2024 qualifier | Tallinn | 5pm

Slovakia v Iceland (Runarsson)
Euro 2024 qualifier | Bratislava | 7.45pm

Friday, November 17

Colombia v Brazil (Gabriel, Martinelli, Jesus)
World Cup 26 qualifier | Barranquilla | 12am

Poland (Kiwior) v Czechia
Euro 2024 qualifier | Warsaw | 7.45pm

England (Ramsdale, Rice, Saka) v Malta
Euro 2024 qualifier | London | 7.45pm

Italy (Jorginho TBC) v North Macedonia
Euro 2024 qualifier | Rome | 7.45pm

Saturday, November 18

Germany (Havertz) v Turkey
Friendly | Berlin | 7.45pm

France (Saliba) v Gibraltar
Euro 2024 qualifier | Nice | 7.45pm

Sunday, November 19

Sierra Leone v Egypt (Elneny)
World Cup 26 qualifier | Monrovia | 4pm

Sweden v Estonia (Hein)
Euro 2024 qualifier | Stockholm | 5pm

Spain (Raya) v Georgia
Euro 2024 qualifier | Valladolid | 7.45pm

Belgium (Trossard) v Azerbaijan
Euro 2024 qualifier | Brussels | 7.45pm

Portugal v Iceland (Runarsson)
Euro 2024 qualifier | Lisbon | 7.45pm

Monday, November 20

North Macedonia v England (Ramsdale, Rice, Saka)
Euro 2024 qualifier | Skopje | 7.45pm

Ukraine (Zinchenko) v Italy (Jorginho TBC)
Euro 2024 qualifier | Leverkusen | 7.45pm

Tuesday, November 21

Syria v Japan (Tomiyasu)
World Cup 26 qualifier | Jeddah | 2.45pm

Poland (Kiwior) v Latvia
Friendly | Warsaw | 7.45pm

Austria v Germany (Havertz)
Friendly | Vienna | 7.45pm

Greece v France (Saliba)
Euro 2024 qualifier | Athens | 7.45pm

Wednesday, November 22

Brazil (Gabriel, Martinelli, Jesus) v Argentina
World Cup 26 qualifier | Rio de Janeiro | 12.30am

Copyright 2023 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.

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