Manchester United players are set to return to Carrington after their respective international exploits. It proved to be a hugely-important Tuesday night for several members of the Old Trafford contingent — with four booking a spot at the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar.
However, there was heartbreak in that same regard for other United stars. Here is our round-up of the international action that took place across the planet last night.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes are celebrating after helping Portugal qualify for the tournament. Fernandes was the hero as he scored two goals at the Estadio do Dragao.
READ MORE: Manchester United fans react to Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo combining
That was enough to gun down North Macedonia — who missed out on the big one after they produced a shock win over Euro 2020 winners Italy in the semi-finals. Ronaldo captained Portugal and played a huge part in the opener for Fernandes, which was naturally spotted and enjoyed by United fans. Diogo Dalot was an unused substitute at the Porto stadium.
United youngster Hannibal Mejbri is also on his way to Qatar after Tunisia held off Mali to complete a 1-0 aggregate victory. The teenager won his 12th cap in Tunis.
However, while there was ecstasy for those four players, there was heartache for three United teammates as Victor Lindelof, Anthony Elanga (both Sweden) and Zidane Iqbal (Iraq) failed to qualify. Sweden were eliminated by Poland after Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring in a 2-0 win.
Piotr Zielinski of Napoli sealed their fate. Lindelof captained Sweden and Elanga — winning his second senior cap — was a second-half substitute in Chorzow. Youngster Iqbal went unused versus Syria.
Elsewhere, several United players were summoned for friendly action as Raphael Varane captained France during a routine 5-0 verdict against South Africa, easing concerns over an injury he picked up earlier in the break, while Paul Pogba enjoyed a cameo from the subs bench upon the restart. He assisted Wissam Ben Yedder for the fourth goal.
Harry Maguire played the entire 90 minutes for England against Ivory Coast beneath the famous Wembley arch, but it proved to be a bizarre night for the £80million captain as he was on the receiving end of boos from some England fans when his name was read out before kick-off. It continued when Maguire had his first touch.
That comfortable 3-0 win also saw Luke Shaw brought on for the final 28 minutes. Scott McTominay (Scotland) was used from the bench against Austria.
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