Several Golden Boys have been involved in international fixtures over the past week, with a feast of further competitive and friendly action yet to come across the month of June.
Nigeria completed their second exhibition match in preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, losing narrowly to Ecuador 1-0 in New Jersey, USA, on Friday (June 3).
William Troost-Ekong made a second start in two matches, with Emmanuel Dennis coming off the bench in the second half, but the Super Eagles were unable to respond to an early free-kick from former Hornet Pervis Estupiñán.
Looking ahead, the Watford duo will take on Sierra Leone and São Tomé and PrÃncipe in their opening AFCON qualifier group games, on June 9 (5pm BST) and June 13 (2pm BST) respectively.
Morocco were defeated 3-0 by the United States in Cincinnati on Thursday (June 2), with Adam Masina playing the full 90 minutes. Like Troost-Ekong, Masina’s attention now turns from friendly to qualifying action, as his nation face South Africa on Thursday (June 9) and Liberia next Monday (June 13), with both games due to kick off at 8pm BST.
Joshua King helped Norway kickstart their UEFA Nations League campaign on a high, picking up two wins from their opening two games away at Serbia and Sweden.
King played the first half of the Lions’ 1-0 win against Serbia on Thursday (June 2), and came on for the final 15 minutes against Sweden on Sunday (June 5). Norway will hope to retain their place at the top of Group B4 after their home games against Slovenia and Sweden on June 9 (7.45pm BST) and June 12 (5pm BST).
DR Congo were frustrated by a resolute Gabon side on Saturday (June 4), with Watford midfielder Edo Kayembe playing the second half for the former. Despite the Leopards’ dominance in possession, winger Shavy Babicka’s first-half strike made the difference in the first Group I game of the AFCON qualifiers.
Next up for Kayembe is Sudan on Wednesday night (June 8, 8pm BST).
Ismaïla Sarr’s Senegal will look to make it two wins out of two in Group L of the same competition after a 3-1 win over Benin on Saturday (June 4).
Sarr won a penalty after an hour of play, rounding the goalkeeper and getting caught as he looked to convert from close range. He gave the ball to Sadio Mane, who completed his hat-trick from the spot.
Rwanda are next up for the reigning champions, with the match taking place on Tuesday (June 7) at 8pm BST.
Making a second appearance for his country, Cucho Hernández donned the yellow of Colombia in a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia on Sunday (June 5), coming on for ex-Watford striker Luis Suárez. Hernández played the full second half in Murcia, Spain.
Elsewhere, Francisco Sierralta was an unused substitute as Chile fell to a 2-0 friendly defeat against South Korea on Monday (June 6). Sierralta and La Roja will now look ahead to taking part in the Kirin Cup semi-final against Tunisia on Friday (June 10).
Dapo Mebude played 88 minutes for Scotland’s Under-21 side, playing out a 0-0 draw with Belgium on Sunday (June 5). Denmark are next up on June 10 as Mebude and Scotland look to climb up Group I of the European Under-21 Championship qualifiers, currently sitting fourth in a five-team group.
Meanwhile, Hassane Kamara is set to play a part in Ivory Coast’s second international game of the summer - a clash with Lesotho on Thursday (June 9, 6pm BST). Kamara missed the Elephants’ 3-1 win against Zambia on Friday (June 3) due to exams.
