FC Barcelona international diary
Tuesday 29 March
Morocco 4-1 DR Congo
Barça B's Ez Abde did not feature as Morocco made it to Qatar 2022 with a resounding victory in Casablanca.
Netherlands 1-1 Germany
Memphis and Frenkie de Jong played all 90 minutes in the draw against a Germany side for whom Ter Stegen was an unused substitute.
Spain 5-0 Iceland
Jordi Alba played 59 minutes in the win over Iceland with Gavi playing the final 20 minutes and Pedri coming on in the 81st minute.
Slovakia U21 2-3 Spain U21
Barça midfielder Nico played 45 minutes of the qualifier for the European Championships in 2023 that ended in a victory for the visitors which books their place in the finals.
Bolivia 0-4 Brazil
Dani Alves played all 90 minutes at right back as Brazil ensured that they finish top of the group in Conmebol qualifying.
Chile 0-2 Uruguay
Ronald Araujo plays all 90 minutes at right back as Uruguay end Conmebol qualifying in third place and also end Chile's hopes of the playoffs. Peru will now play against either Australia or UAE.
Monday 28 March
Montenegro 1-0 Greece
Barça B's Lazar Carević watched on as his national teammates beat Greece despite the away side dominating possession.
Sunday 27 March
There were no games featuring Barça players today, but there was positive news for the injured Sergiño Dest as the USMNT cruised to 5-1 victory against Panama. Barring an absolute catastrophe in the final game in Costa Rica, that's virtually enough to ensure a place for the US in Qatar.
Saturday 26 March
Holland 4-2 Denmark
Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay both started the friendly at the Johan Cruyff Arena. The latter scored his side's third goal from the penalty spot, and it was Frenkie's assist that led to the fourth from Bergwijn en el cuarto. De Jong played all 90 minutes while Memphis came off after 77.
Germany 2-0 Israel
Ter Stegen played the first half in goal, and was replaced at half-time by Trapp.
Spain 2-1 Albania
Major participation from Barça in the friendly victory at the RCDE Stadium. Eric Garcia, Pedri, Gavi and Ferran Torres all started and Torres scored the winner, while Jordi Alba came on in the second half.
No World Cup qualifiers troday, but there are three friendlies in Europe featuring Barça players, including Spain making a rare appearance in the city of Barcelona at the RCDE Stadium.
Germany v Israel (8:45pm CET, Prezero-Arena, Sinsheim) – Friendly
Spain v Albania (7:45pm CET, RCDE Stadium, Barcelona) – Friendly
Holland v Denmark (8:45pm CET, Amsterdam Arena) – Friendly
Friday 25 March
Spain U21 8-0 Lithuania U21
Goalkeeper Arnau Tenas played all 90 minutes in the comfortable win for the U21s but Nico González was ruled out through illness.
Thursday 24 March
Mexico 0-0 USA
Without the injured Sergiño Dest, the USMNT drew 0-0 in Mexico. With two more games to come this week, at home to Panama and away to Costa Rica, the US stay second in the Concacaf group and strongly poised to qualify, but nothing is decided yet.
Uruguay 1-0 Peru
Brazil 4-0 Chile
Ronald Araujo's side are going to the World Cup! A 1-0 victory over direct rivals Peru in Montevideo means that Uruguay are assured one of the top four places in the Conmebol zone whatever happens in their final game. And that's because the other contender, Chile, who Uruguay play later this week, suffered a heavy defeat in Brazil and are out of contention. Despite losing 3-1 in Paraguay, Ecuador have also confirmed their ticket for Qatar.
Araujo played at right back for all 90 minutes of Uruguay's win, which was decided by an Arrascaeta goal on 41 minutes. For Brazil, who have already secured their place in the finals, Dani Alves was un unused substitute.
Armenia 1-0 Montenegro
In the friendly in Yerevan, Barça B goalkeeper Carevic came on for the second half to make his senior debut for his country. He did well not to concede any goals, but it was not enough to avoid defeat as the home side won 1-0 thanks to a solitary goal scored early on.
Calendar
Another international break is upon us, and FC Barcelona players will be on duty for their countries over the next few days:
GERMANY: Ter Stegen
SPAIN: Jordi Alba, Eric Garcia, Gavi, Pedri, Ferran Torres
HOLLAND: Frenkie de Jong, Memphis
URUGUAY: Ronald Araujo
BRAZIL: Dani Alves
MONTENEGRO: Lazar Carević
MOROCCO: Ez Abde
SPAIN U21: Nico, Arnau Tenas
For the European senior internationals, all the games are friendlies, with Spain making a rare appearance in the city of Barcelona as they take on Albania in Espanyol’s stadium.
Meanwhile, the Spain U21 team has two qualifiers for the 2023 European Championships. Following the disqualification of Russia, with whom they were level at the top of their group, they are are now six points ahead of their closest rivals, Slovakia, which is one of the teams they play this week.
Elsewhere, there are crunch 2022 World Cup games going on. In Africa, Ez Abde is joining the Morocco squad for the first time, where they play a two legged playoff against DR Congo to see which side goes to Qatar later this year.
In South America, Brazil are safely through to the finals already, while Uruguay’s fate will be decided in the final two rounds of qualification matches. Four teams advance directly to the finals, and with Ecuador looking fairly safe in third, it means the remaining teams are probably battling for the one remaining spot.
Ronald Araujo’s side are currently fourth and will take on the two teams directly below them, Peru and Chile, so both fixtures are practical head-to-heads to decide who goes to the finals, who takes Conmebol’s place in the intercontinental playoff, and who will be missing out entirely.
Thursday 24 March
Armenia 1-0 Montenegro (Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan)
- Lazar Carević played the second half of this friendly match.
Brazil v Chile (8.30pm local, 12.30am Friday CET, Maracana, Rio de Janeiro) – World Cup Qualifier
Uruguay v Peru (8.30pm local, 12.30am Friday CET, Estadio Centenario, Montevideo) – World Cup Qualifier
Friday 25 March
DR Congo v Morocco (4.00pm CET, Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa) – World Cup Qualifier
Spain U21 v Lithuania U21 (8.00pm CET, Estadio El Prado, Talavera de la Reina) – U21 Euro Qualifier
Saturday 26 March
Germany v Israel (8:45pm CET, Prezero-Arena, Sinsheim) – Friendly
Spain v Albania (7:45pm CET, RCDE Stadium, Barcelona) – Friendly
Holland v Denmark (8:45pm CET, Amsterdam Arena) – Friendly
Monday 28 March
Montenegro v Greece (8.00pm CEST, Podgorica City Stadium) – Friendly
Tuesday 29 March
Slovakia U21 v Spain U21 (4.00pm CEST, Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina) – U21 Euro Qualifier
Morocco v DR Congo (8.30pm CEST, Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca) – World Cup Qualifier
Holland v Germany (8:45 CEST, Amsterdam Arena) – Friendly
Spain v Iceland (8:45 CEST, Riazor, La Coruña) – Friendly
Bolivia v Brazil (7.30pm local, 1.30am Wednesday CEST, Estadio Hernando Siles Reyes, La Paz) - World Cup Qualifier
Chile v Uruguay (8.30pm local, 1.30am Wednesday CEST, Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo, Santiago) - World Cup Qualifier