Bayern Munich’s international break brought assists, clean sheets and one record debut. Michael Olise set up France’s winner in Turkey. Erblin Osmani became Kosovo’s youngest senior international. Harry Kane, meanwhile, missed an England penalty against Spain after slipping at Wembley.
The sporting fact
Joshua Kimmich returned from Amsterdam to Nuremberg with Germany after the 1-1 draw against the Netherlands. The captain is preparing for Sunday’s Nations League match against Greece, where Germany are seeking a first win under Jürgen Klopp.
Jonathan Tah and Nathaniel Brown are also available after travelling with the squad. Jamal Musiala has left camp with a muscle-fibre tear. Serge Gnabry is unlikely to start after his long injury absence and is expected to be an option from the bench.
Kimmich, Tah, Brown and Gnabry will return to Bayern after their second international appearance. Goalkeeper Jonas Urbig, Lennart Karl, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Tom Bischof are then due to join up. Bischof captained Germany’s Under-21 side in Saturday’s 4-0 victory in Latvia and supplied an assist.
France won 1-0 in Turkey with Dayot Upamecano part of another clean sheet. Olise created Kylian Mbappé’s decisive goal. It was his ninth assist of the calendar year for France, matching a mark last reached by Raymond Kopa in 1958. Olise has five matches left this year to claim the record outright.
Min-jae Kim played 75 minutes as South Korea beat Ecuador 3-0 in a friendly. Hiroki Ito completed Japan’s 3-1 win against Uruguay. Josip Stanisic also played the full match at right-back as Croatia won 2-1 in the Czech Republic. Croatia are level with Spain in Group 3 after Spain beat England 3-2.
Kane had put England ahead after an early Spanish goal, but later missed the chance to make it 3-1. His penalty hit the crossbar after his standing foot gave way slightly. It was his first missed spot-kick for England since the 2022 World Cup quarter-final defeat to France.
Ismael Saibari was suspended for Morocco’s 2-0 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying win over Gabon. The Bayern summer arrival had originally received a two-match CAF ban for his role in the disorder around Morocco’s final against Senegal last winter, when a Moroccan ball boy attempted to take Edouard Mendy’s towel. Saibari later called his involvement a mistake. His suspension was reduced and he can return against Lesotho on Tuesday at 15:00 CET.
Bara Sapoko Ndiaye did not play in Senegal’s 1-1 draw in Mozambique. Konrad Laimer has yet to feature for Austria. He stayed in Munich after suffering an adductor problem before the recent 7-0 win over Union and is set to report to the Austria squad on Monday.
Osmani’s week has moved quickly. The Munich-born defender made his Regionalliga debut only days ago, then entered Kosovo’s 1-0 win against Ireland in the 87th minute. The 17-year-old, who has been at Bayern since Under-9 level, was handed his senior debut by coach Franco Foda and became Kosovo’s youngest-ever debutant.
Next Spieltag
Germany face Greece on Sunday evening. Morocco travel to Lesotho on Tuesday, with Saibari available again after his reduced suspension.
