The Premier League and Championship return this weekend after this season’s third international break came to an end.
England won twice to secure promotion to the top tier of the Nations League as Lee Carsley passed the reigns on to Thomas Tuchel.
However, plenty of other stories may have escaped your notice in what was an unusually hectic international break with referee scandals and manager contract extensions alongside the obligatory Nations League games. Here’s five things you may have missed.
1. San Marino could be two matches away from the 2026 World Cup
Yes, San Marino, who have three wins in their entire history, could be two matches away from making history.
Given their recent form – seven points from their last six games – they may be slightly angered that their World Cup fate is not actually in their own hands.
Picture the scene - All 10 European teams who are in Pot 1 and Pot 2 of the World Cup Qualifiers all finish in the top two of their respective qualifying groups.
This would mean four World Cup Play-Off spots would be given to – Northern Ireland North Macedonia, Moldova and San Marino!
At that stage San Marino would have to win (or draw and win on penalties) just two games to get to the 2026 World Cup.
It’s an unlikely scenario but the lowest-ranked FIFA-affiliated national football team could well have a shot at history.
2. VAR fails – again
Whilst it’s slightly reassuring to see that the Premier League is not the only competition struggling with refereeing technology, the VAR decision against Sweden on Tuesday night was utterly baffling.
Isak thought he had made it 4-0 to Sweden just before half-time but VAR disallowed the goal after reviewing the image below and deciding that Isak [at the top of the picture] was offside.
VAR ruled out Isak’s goal vs Azerbajdzjan because he was offsideI will let you decide yourselves pic.twitter.com/E18MMqbgPwNovember 19, 2024
The Newcastle striker also missed a penalty but luckily his misfortunes had no affect on the result as his side thrashed Azerbaijan 6-0, with Tottenham forward Dejan Kulusevski scoring twice and Viktor Gyokeres bagging four to take his goal tally to 23 for club and country this season.
3. 130th ranked team pushing for World Cup Qualification
In a similar story to the mighty San Marino, Indonesia are also looking to become the lowest-ranked team to ever get to a World Cup.
Indonesia shocked Saudi Arabia in a 2-0 win on Tuesday leaving them third in their qualifying group with four games to go. They still face Bahrain and Australia – who they have already drawn to – as well as Japan and China – the two sides to beat them so far in qualifying.
The Indonesian side are currently 130th in the FIFA ranking and if they were to secure enough points to finish third and progress through the play-offs, they would beat North Korea’s appearance at the 2010 World Cup where they were ranked 108th at the time.
They have already made an appareance at the World Cup - back in 1932 - making them one of 12 Asian sides to get to the World Cup Finals.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo breaks another record
Cristiano Ronaldo continues to break records at the impressive age of 39.
Portugal’s impressive form continued as they secured top spot in their UEFA Nations League Group with a 5-1 thrashing of Poland and a 1-1 draw with Croatia.
Ronaldo scored twice – a Panenka and an overhead kick – to help Portugal to victory over Poland and secure his 132nd International victory.
The win sees him surpass Sergio Ramos’ 131 victories with Spain to make Ronaldo the player with the most international wins in history.
5. Four debut scorers in one match for England
Lee Carsley’s time as interim manager came to an end as England thrashed Ireland 5-0, but you may have missed the fact that four of the five goal scorers in the second-half had never scored for England before.
Anthony Gordon, Connor Gallagher and Jarrod Bowen all scored their fist international goals, having played for England before, while Roy Keane’s future son-in-law Taylor Harwood-Bellis came on to make his England debut and scored less than twenty minutes later.
