Internationals - Royal and Brazil qualify for Qatar, Sonny on course

Emerson Royal and Brazil qualified for next year's World Cup in Qatar with a 1-0 win over Davinson Sanchez's Colombia in the early hours of Friday morning.

Royal was an unused substitute as a goal from Lyon's Lucas Paqueta saw Brazil home in Sao Paulo. That made it 11 wins out of 12 to move the unbeaten Selecao nine points clear of Argentina in second, but more importantly, guarantee a place in the top four of South American qualifying and therefore a place in the finals.

Davinson was back in the Colombia starting line-up and earned his 44th cap. Los Cafeteros are still very much in the shake up, currently fifth, level on points with Chile in that all-important fourth place, and four adrift of Ecuador in third.

Heung-Min Son took another step towards Qatar as he led South Korea to a 1-0 win against UAE in Asian qualifying on Thursday.

Captaining the side again, Sonny earned his 97th cap and struck the woodwork twice in a convincing performance from South Korea, despite the narrow scoreline. Wolves striker Hwang Hee-chan scored the winner from the penalty spot in the first half.

The Asian qualifiers are up to the third phase, and group leaders Iran also won on Thursday. That means Iran (13) points and South Korea (11 points) have drawn eight and six points clear of third-placed Lebanon in the six-team Group A, half way through qualifying - the top two go straight to Qatar.

Staying with World Cup qualifying, it’s been a tough campaign for the Republic of Ireland, but they performed well to hold Portugal to a goalless draw in Dublin. Matt Doherty played the full 90 minutes and had the ball in the net as ROI pushed for a late winner, following Pepe’s sending off. That goal was disallowed for a foul on goalkeeper Rui Patricio. At the other end, Cristiano Ronaldo headed inches wide as it stayed 0-0 at the Aviva Stadium. Troy Parrott was an unused substitute. That was Matt's 26th cap.

Papa Matar Sarr was also an unused substitute as Senegal booked their place in the final round of African World Cup qualifying with a 1-1 draw against Togo.

Meanwhile, in Burnley, Oliver Skipp put in a full shift as England Under-21s picked up an important 3-1 win against previously unbeaten Czech Republic in UEFA U21 qualifying. England were 2-0 up inside 15 minutes and 3-0 up in 30 thanks to an own goal, Anthony Gordon, who lined-up against Skippy for Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday, and Arsenal’s Folarin Balogun.

Wednesday’s action

It was all about UEFA European Championship qualifying for our younger players in international action on Wednesday.

Dane Scarlett scored twice as England Under-19s beat Andorra 4-0 in Sweden. Dane played for 72 minutes, Nile John came on just after the hour. Thimothee Lo-Tutala also started and kept a clean sheet as France U19s beat Albania by the same scoreline. The Craig twins featured for Scotland - Michael started and Matthew came off the bench in the second half as they let a 2-0 lead slip against Armenia, who went on to win 3-2. Will Andiyapan played 90 as Wales Under-17s beat Ukraine 3-1 in Portugal.

Friday's matches

Harry Kane - England home 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Albania - kick-off 7.45pm
Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero - Argentina away 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Uruguay - kick-off 11pm