The final international break for 2025 is almost over, and we’ll soon be gearing up for the biggest month of fixtures across the Premier League and Champions League ever since the 2021 takeover.

And a number of our international Mags will be coming back to the North East after a contrasting few days of football for their countries…

Another Elanga blow and Tonali missed

It’s not been an easy international break for Sweden’s Anthony Elanga or Italy’s Sandro Tonali, with the latter’s absence coming at a cost on Sunday night.

Anthony Elanga looked sharp for Sweden under new manager Graham Potter, but the Swedes were no match for Switzerland, falling to a 4-1 loss on Saturday.

This leaves the Swedes needing the Nations League play-offs to assure their qualification for the World Cup, with them currently rock bottom of their group after a torrid campaign; no thanks to Alexander Isak.

Sandro Tonali withdrew from the Italy squad for precautionary reasons after starting in their 2-0 win over Moldova last week, but he was clearly missed last night in a crushing defeat for his country.

Italy faced Norway at the San Siro and Erling Haaland run riot in a 4-1 win for the Scandinavians. This not only confirmed that Norway will top the group and qualify, but is now the THIRD consecutive time Italy must go through the World Cup play off route to make next year’s tournament.

Woltemade brilliance and Bruno shines again

With Kai Havertz’s return from injury looming, Nick Woltemade needed a big performance for Germany to keep himself in Julian Nagelsmann’s thoughts as their starting striker.

And an impressive brace versus Luxembourg certainly helped his case, as Germany put themselves a win away from qualifying for the World Cup, taking Woltemade up to three goals in his last two for the Germans.

Compatriot Malick Thiaw also marked his return with a 15-minute cameo in a 2-0 win, setting up a top of the table clash with Martin Dubravka’s on Monday night.

Bruno Guimaraes meanwhile cemented his status as arguably the best-performing player for Brazil since Carlo Ancelotti was appointed manager.

He delivered another stellar display as the Selecao swept aside Senegal in a friendly, winning 2-0 at the Emirates on a day that saw Arsenal’s Gabriel limp off with a groin injury.

The challenge and the passion from Bruno Guimaraes ❤️🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/WAafF0zuTS

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 16, 2025