FC Barcelona International Diary

Another international break is upon us, and ten of the senior squad are away playing Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers:

Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Gavi (Spain)
Philippe Coutinho (Brazil)
Ronald Araujo (Uruguay)
Ter Stegen (Germany)
Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay (Holland)
Clément Lenglet (France)
Yusuf Demir (Austria)  

This is the place for all the latest news from around the world: 

Tuesday 16 November 

• Holland 2 - 0 Norway
  The win meant the hosts secured top point in Group G and a place at next year's World Cup. The match featured Frenkie de Jong and Memphis, who scored a breakaway second goal to seal the late win.
  
  

  MEMPHISSSSSSSS: 2-0!#WCQ2022 #NEDNOR pic.twitter.com/m07o1i3zPz

  — OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) November 16, 2021

• Finland 0 - 2 France
  A comfortable win through two second half goals for the already qualified France. Lenglet was an unused substitute. 
  
• Bolivia 3 - 0 Uruguay 
  Bolivia hauled themselves into contention for qualification with only 2 points separating 4th placed Colombia and 8th place Bolivia at the time of writing. A night to forget for Uruguay with Araujo an unused subsititute.
• Argentina 0 - 0 Brazil
  Philippe Coutinho did not feature as Brazil maintained their unbeaten record in qualifying. Brazil stay six points clear in Argentina in the Conmebol table, although both sides had already clinched berths at Qatar 2022 before the gme started.
• Austria 1- 3 Croatia (U21)
  Demir played 82 minutes in the loss at the Keine Sorgen Arena, with Croatia remaining in top spot in the table.

Monday 15 November 

• Austria 4 -1 Moldova
  Barça's Yusuf Demir did not take part in Austria's win in Klagenfurt as he has been called up for a vital U21 game against Croatia on Tuesday, kick off 8.30pm CET. 

Sunday 14 November

• Spain 1 - 0 Sweden
  Three more blaugranes through to the World Cup finals in 2022 thanks to Spain's 1-0 win over Sweden. Gavi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba all figured in the starting XI with Luis Enrique's sealing top spot and automatic qualification from Group B thanks to Álvaro Morata's late goal. It was a special evening for midfielder Busquets as he equalled Xavi Hernández's total of 133 caps for the Spanish national side. 
• Armenia 1 - 4 Germany
  Marc ter Stegen was in the starting XI as Hansi Flick's team rounded off World Cup qualification with an away win in Armenia having already booked their place in Qatar last month.  

Saturday 13 November 

• France 8 - 0 Kazakhstan
  A huge 8-0 win for France against Kazakhstan confirms that they’ll be going to Qatar 2022 to defend their world title. Clement Lenglet came on for the last ten minutes as a substitute for Lucas Hernández.
• Montenegro 2 - 2 Netherlands
  The Netherlands went into a 2-0 lead away to Montenegro, with both the goals scored by Memphis, the first from the penalty spot and the second after 54 minutes. That’s 11 goals for the Barça player, putting him top of the goalscoring charts in the UEFA zone. Frenkie was also on for the first 78 minutes, replaced by Gravenberch when it looked like the Dutch were well on course for mathematically securing qualification. But late goals from Lewandowski and Zahavi meant the Montenegrins were able to snatch a late, surprise draw. The result means Holland still lead the group going into the final game, two points ahead of Turkey and Norway, and will still qualify as long as they can avoid defeat to the Norwegians on Tuesday. 

Friday 12 November 

• Austria 4 - 2 Israel
  Goals from Arnautovic (pen), Schaub (2) and Sabitzer saw off Israel, although its too late for Yusuf Demir's team to secure a place in the finals. They can still qualify via the playoffs though. The Barça midfielder was an unused substitute in this game.
• Uruguay 0 - 1 Argentina
  A third straight defeat in qualifying saw Uruguay slip to 6th in the table, albeit level on points with 4th placed Chile. Araujo was an unused substitute.

Thursday 11 November

• Greece 0 - 1  Spain 

  Gavi played the first 65 minutos of the game before being replaced by Sergio from the bench. A penalty goal by Sarabia in the first half was enough to seal the win. Jordi Alba did not feature. 

• Germany 9 - 0 Liechtenstein

  Minnows Liechtenstein were hammered in this meaningless qualifier that featured braces for 2 German players and a brace of own goals from the away side. Ter Stegen did not feature. 

• Brazil 1 - 0 Colombia
  Philippe Coutinho played no part in the game that saw Brazil secure mathematical passage to the finals in Qatar next year, thus far with 34 of a possible 36 points.