Narrow defeat for Royal's Brazil

Emerson Royal was in action for Brazil in their 2026 World Cup qualifier away to Colombia in the early hours of this morning (Friday 17 November).

The defender was named in the starting line-up and played the full contest in what was his eighth cap as his side made a bright start when Gabriel Martinelli gave them a fourth-minute lead by guiding in a pass from Vinicius Jr who went off injured later in the first half.

However, Liverpool forward Luis Diaz scored twice in five second-half minutes to complete the turnaround for Colombia in CONMEBOL preliminaries to administer consecutive defeats for Seleção who drop to fifth in the standings after five games as a result.

Up next for Brazil is a mouth-watering home tie against early group leaders and rivals Argentina in Maracanã Stadium on Wednesday 22 November (kick-off 12.30am UK).

Elsewhere in internationals, Dejan Kulusevski featured from the start for Sweden as they lost 3-0 away to Azerbaijan in Group F in their penultimate UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier on Thursday evening. Plus on-loan pair Alfie Devine and Dane Scarlett were in action for England’s Elite League squad – formerly known as England Under-20s – on Thursday, but they couldn’t prevent the Young Lions from suffering a 3-0 home defeat to Italy in Doncaster.