Albion trio Semi Ajayi, Grady Diangana and Jayson Molumby have all been called up by their countries for competitive fixtures in the November international break.
Starting in Africa, duo Ajayi and Diangana have been selected by Nigeria and DR Congo respectively as CAF qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup gets underway.
Ajayi’s Nigeria are in Group C alongside South Africa, Benin, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Rwanda, while Diangana’s DR Congo are up against Sudan, South Sudan, Senegal, Togo and Mauritania in Group B.
Nigeria have matches at home to Lesotho on Thursday, November 16 and away to Zimbabwe on Sunday, November 19, with DR Congo facing Mauritania at home on Wednesday, November 15 and then Sudan on their travels on Sunday, November 19.
Our roster for #Lesotho & #Zimbabwe WCQ#soarsupereagles #letsdoitagain #wcq pic.twitter.com/oYCkxWFoFd
— 🇳🇬 Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) November 9, 2023
The African qualifiers are set to be contested across two rounds. The first will be a group-stage format, with eight groups of six teams and one group of five. Each team will play two matches, home and away, against each of their opponents. The top finisher in each of the nine groups will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The second round will pit the four best runners-up in two one-off semi-finals, followed by a final. The winner of this second round will qualify for the FIFA play-off Tournament.
Elsewhere, midfielder Jayson Molumby is in the Republic of Ireland squad for their final UEFA EURO 2024 qualifier against the Netherlands and their friendly with New Zealand.
Ireland take on the Dutch at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, November 18 before welcoming the All Whites to Dublin for a practice encounter on Tuesday, November 21.
