Assists, Goals and Debuts

Both Ilyas Ansah and Aljoscha Kemlein were in the starting eleven in the German U21's European Championship qualifier against Malta. Kemlein provided an assist in the 6-0 win, as he also did in the subsequent 2-0 win against Georgia in which he started again, while Ansah played the last half hour. Germany were unable to close the gap to group leaders Greece but remained within striking distance in the group. Tom Rothe left the national team as a precaution before the two matches and was therefore not available to coach Antonio Di Salvo.

Leopold Querfeld also had something to celebrate as his Austria side beat Cyprus 2-0, through Marko Arnautović's brace. They secured qualification to the World Cup through Tuesday evening's 1-1 draw against the former Unioner, Sergej Barabrez's Bosnia-Herzegovina.

For András Schäfer, the week was one of mixed feelings. In Hungary's 1-0 win against Armenia, he was on the pitch for the full duration. In the subsequent home match against Ireland, he was substituted after about an hour — with Hungary still leading 2-1. Troy Parrott’s three goals — including a dramatic late winner — decided a thrilling match 3-2, enabling Irish participation in the Play-offs. Hungary, however, missed out on qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

A particular highlight was celebrated by Derrick Köhn. The left-back made his debut for Ghana's national team, playing 88 minutes in the 2-0 friendly loss in Japan. Four days later, the Ghanians played South Korea, though coach Addo Otto did not use Köhn in the Black Stars' 1-0 loss.

Dmytro Bogdanov played three EUROs qualifiers with the Ukrainian U19s. After 3-0 victories against Albania and Montenegro — both matches where came close to scoring himself — he made a statement in the final match against Slovakia, scoring the opener in a 3-0 victory.