FC Barcelona international diary

International football takes centre stage these days and we keep an eye on the 10 players in involved in crucial World Cup 2022 qualifying matches.

Thursday 9 September

Uruguay 1-0 Ecuador
Ronald Araujo played the full 90 minutes as Uruguay beat Ecuador to leapfrog them into third place in the qualifying table. Uruguay scored with their only shot on target, coming in the 92nd minute.

Wednesday 8 September

Kosovo 0-2 Spain
Pablo Fornals and Ferran Torres scored the goals as Spain picked up three crucial points on the road, with Sergio Busquets playing the full 90 minutes. Jordi Alba and Eric Garcia played no part in a game that ensured Spain stay top of the group. There was also a huge boost to la roja's World Cup qualification prospects as main rivals Sweden were beaten in Greece. 

Tuesday 7 September

- Memphis was the star of the show in the Netherlands emphatic 6-1 victory over Turkey in Amsterdam. The Barça striker created the opener for Davy Klaasen in the very first minute before scoring twice himself in the first half to give the Dutch a 3-0 lead at the break. In the second half he added another to record a splendid hat-trick and continue his excellent recent form. His Barça team mate Frenkie de Jong also excelled in the first half before being replaced at half time. 

- Lenglet appeared as a substitute in France's win over Finland and Yusuf Demir also came on as a substitute in Austria's 1-0 home defeat to Scotland. 

- Barça keeper Arnau Tenas played all 90 minutes in Spain U21's 2-0 away victory over Lithuania.

Monday 6 September

Uruguay 4-2 Bolivia
- Ronald Araujo replaced Diego Godin in the 85th minute to help his compatriots complete a comfortable victory and keep Uruguay in an automatic qualification spot.

USA 1-1 Canada
- Sergiño Dest played almost the entire first half before being substituted. Both teams have now drawn their opening two matches of the qualifying campaign.

Sunday 5 September

- Spain have beaten Georgia 4-0, with Eric Garcia the only Barça player in Luis Enrique's starting XI although the defender was replaced by Mikel Moreno after 61 minutes. Neither Jordi Alba nor Sergio Busquets played any part. The result leaves Spain top of Group B, but Sweden are just one point behind and have two games in hand...

- Eric Garcia is the only Barça player in Luis Enrique's starting XI against Georgia. Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets will both be on the bench, at least for the start of a crucial encounter.

Saturday 4 September

Holland 4-0 Montenegro
- Memphis Depay scored twice as Holland trounced Montenegro 4-0 to get their World Cup qualification bid right back on track. Frenkie de Jong was also on for 83 minutes of a game that leaves the Dutch second in the group but with a chance to go top when they host leaders Turkey in three day's time.

Ukraine 1-1 France
- Clement Lenglet did not feature as France picked up a point in Ukraine. The home side went ahead just before the break, but Anthony Martial levelled moments after the restart. The result means that although France have only won two of their five games, they are still five points clear at the top of a group that's producing a curiously high number of draws.

Israel 5-2 Austria
- Not such a good day for Yusuf Demir, who played the last 22 minutes of a crucial game for Austria in Tel Aviv. The Israelis won that 5-2 and Austria have dropped below Scotland to fourth in the group.

-- Sergio Busquets has spoken at length to the media following Spain’s defeat to Sweden and ahead of their next game with Georgia.

“It’s not the best situation” he says. “Not the one we wanted, but try to think that the glass is half full. Maybe we could have played a bit better against Sweden, for various reasons, and maybe we should have made more fouls, but we also lost because Sweden played well."

“We came very close to winning the Euros, and that experience will be good for the young players. We know what’s at stake. But we have a very tight fixture list to deal with.”

“People always like to blame someone for defeats, I’ve suffered that myself, but Eric Garcia has been playing some great games. We need players like him and I’m delighted to have playing him for Spain and for Barça too.”

Friday 3 September

- Arnau Tenas played in goal for the Spain U21 team against Russia this evening, in a game that saw the visitors take an early lead but Spain eventually take a convincing 4-1 victory. A great start to Euro 2021 qualification for Spain, who next go to Lithuania on Tuesday.

Thursday 2 September

- Sergiño Dest played the first 64 minutes of the USA's opening game in the 8-team final round of Concacaf qualification in El Salvador. The game at the Estadio Cuscatlán ended 0-0, and next up for the USMNT is a game at home to Canada on Sunday. The Nissan Stadium, Nashville is the venue.

- Ronald Araujo did not feature in the Peru v Uruguay game that ended in a 1-1 draw, which has left Uruguay fourth in the table, behind Brazil, Argentina and Ecuador.

- Spain have lost 2-1 to Sweden in Stockholm in tonight's World Cup qualifier, despite taking a very early lead through Carlos Soler. Alexander Isak equalised within a minute and Viktor Claesson scored a second for the Swedes early in the second half.

Jordi Alba and Eric Garcia played the full 90 minutes, and Sergio Busquets was on for 84 of them. Next up for Spain is a game with Georgia in Badajoz on Sunday.

- The Barça trio in the Spain squad have all been named in the starting eleven against Sweden.

- This Thursday Spain are in action with a big game against direct rivals Sweden. Eric Garcia, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets are all in the squad for the 8.45pm CEST kick-off in Stockholm.

Wednesday 1 September 

- Memphis and Frenkie de Jong played all 90 minutes of the Netherlands 1-1 draw with Norway. Pjanic played all 90 minutes in the 1-1 draw between France and Bosnia with Lenglet an unused substitute for the French. Yusuf Demir sat out Austria's 1-0 away win at Moldova.