Five of our first-team players were in international action on Saturday evening.
Alex Iwobi’s Nigeria faced Zambia, while Sead Kolasinac’s Bosnia hosted Belgium.
Elsewhere, Alexandre Lacazette and Olivier Giroud were in action for France against Bulgaria, while Granit Xhaka’s Switzerland took Hungary, with each country looking to qualify for next summer’s World Cup tournament in Russia.
Scroll down to find out how they got on:
Alex Iwobi
Saturday, October 7
Nigeria 1-0 Zambia
Alex Iwobi came off the bench to score the winner for Nigeria in their World Cup qualifier against Zambia. The forward replaced Moses Simon after 66 minutes before slamming home from close range seven minutes later to send Nigeria to next summer’s World Cup in Russia.
Granit Xhaka
Saturday, October 7
Switzerland 5-2 Hungary
Granit Xhaka opened the scoring for Switzerland in their World Cup qualifying win over Hungary. The midfielder capitalised on goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi’s slip to slot in from close range are just 18 minutes. Fabian Frei then added a second minutes later, with Steven Zuber making it three just before half-time.
Zuber got another moments after the restart and, despite Richard Guzmics and Roland Ugrai scoring in the closing stages, Stephan Lichtsteiner struck a fifth to secure a routine win for Switzerland. Xhaka’s country have now qualified for next summer’s World Cup, topping their group by winning every single game.
Sead Kolasinac
Saturday, October 7
Bosnia & Herzegovina 3-4 Belgium
Sead Kolasinac played the duration of Bosnia’s World Cup qualifying defeat to Belgium. Thomas Meunier gave the visitors the lead, but Haris Medunjanin and Edin Visca then struck to turn the game on its head.
Michy Batshuayi and Jan Vertonghen then restored Belgium’s lead and even though Dario Dumic equalised with eight minutes to go, Yannick Carrasco found the net 60 seconds later to ensure Belgium left with all three points.
Bosnia now head to Estonia needing second-placed Greece to slip up against Gibraltar if they are to qualify for next summer’s tournament automatically.
Alexandre Lacazette, Olivier Giroud
Saturday, October 7
Bulgaria 0-1 France
Alexandre Lacazette and Olivier Giroud both featured in France’s 1-0 win over Bulgaria. Lacazette started in an exciting front three with Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe, but it was midfielder Blaise Matuidi who opened the scoring after just three minutes. Giroud was an 85th-minute substitute for Mbappe.
France just need to match second-placed Sweden’s result on Tuesday to secure automatic qualification for next summer's tournament.
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