After Kyle Walker-Peters was handed his senior England debut at the weekend, James Ward-Prowse earned a 10th cap at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night as Gareth Southgate’s side cruised past Ivory Coast.
Impressing in the middle of the park alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham, the Saints skipper was joined by Walker-Peters at the break, as the Three Lions roared to a 3-0 win thanks to goals from Ollie Watkins, Raheem Sterling and Tyrone Mings.
Fraser Forster was an unused substitute on the bench, while Tino Livramento helped England Under-21s to a 3-0 success in Albania, as their strong start to Euro 2023 qualification continued under Lee Carsley’s guidance.
While Southampton’s Three Lions were in action, Jan Bednarek and Moussa Djenepo were chasing World Cup qualification with Poland and Mali respectively.
In a night of mixed emotions, Bednarek can begin thinking of Qatar 2022 as a second half penalty from Robert Lewandowski and strike from Piotr Zieliński earned a memorable 2-0 win over Sweden in the winner-takes-all play-off.
The result was in contrast to the Eagles, who couldn’t overcome the 1-0 deficit from the first leg to lose on aggregate to Tunisia, with Djenepo playing the first 64 minutes.
Elsewhere, Mohamed Elyounoussi helped Norway record a thumping 9-0 friendly win over Armenia.
Having played the full 90 minutes in the victory over Slovakia on Friday, the winger was withdrawn at the halfway stage at Ullevaal Stadion, but still provided an early assist for Erling Haaland to open the scoring midway through the first half.
The Borussia Dortmund striker ended the night with a brace, while Watford’s Josh King scored a hat-trick amongst the goals.
For Scotland, Ché Adams and Stuart Armstrong were both named in the starting eleven for the meeting with Austria, which Steve Clarke’s side drew 2-2 in Vienna.
Adams completed 64 minutes while Armstrong was withdrawn with 13 minutes remaining, as the Tartan Army surrendered a two-goal lead late on.
Concluding a busy night of action for Saints’ internationals, Armando Broja was handed a second consecutive start as Albania drew 0-0 with Georgia in Tirana.
The final night of international action, the players will now return to Staplewood Campus ahead of Saturday’s trip to Leeds as the Premier League resumes.
Share this: