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Several Liverpool players were in action on Friday with mixed success on an individual level for those Arne Slot stars who took part in World Cup qualifying fixtures for their nations.
Summer signing Florian Wirtz was a strong performer as Germany hammered 10-man Luxembourg at the PreZero Arena, the home of Hoffenheim. The Liverpool playmaker didn't score or assist but was a central player for Julian Nagelsmann and saw plenty of the ball.
Wirtz, the 22-year-old former Bayer Leverkusen ace, was heavily involved in much of what Germany did going forward, creating four chances for his teammates and hitting the post with a well-struck free-kick.
Hugo Ekitike, meanwhile, making his first start for France, notched an assist for Kylian Mbappe's opening goal against Azerbaijan. The Liverpool striker played 79 minutes in total before he was replaced by Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Ibrahima Konate was among the substitutes for France after picking up a knock last weekend during Liverpool's game against Chelsea. That he was present in the matchday squad, though, suggests his quad issue won't keep him sidelined for long.
But things were less positive for Conor Bradley and Alexander Isak, even though the former captained Northern Ireland to an important victory over Slovakia.
Bradley was largely impressive — completing the most dribbles and drawing the most fouls of anyone on the field — but he picked up a booking after being penalized for a tackle in the second half.
The Liverpool full-back has gotten into the habit of collecting yellow cards lately and this latest one means he will be suspended for Northern Ireland's game against Germany on Monday.
While Isak played the full 90 minutes for Sweden — which will be good as he continues to build up his match fitness — the Scandinavian side was dealt a blow to its hopes of making it to the USA, Canade and Mexico by losing 2-0 at home to Switzerland.
Granit Xhaka and Johan Manzambi scored for the Swiss, leaving Sweden bottom of its World Cup qualifying group. At the halfway mark in the qualification phase, it only has one point from three games.
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Sweden has good players including Isak and Viktor Gyokeres. However, it currently trails Slovenia and Kosovo in the standings and is playing catch-up.
There is plenty of pressure on Jan Dahl Tomassen's side ahead of the Kosovo game on Monday, where Isak is likely to be involved again now he is in better shape than in the last international break, where he was only used for a few minutes.
Liverpool returns to Premier League action against Manchester United a week on Sunday when Slot's side will look to bounce back from three successive defeats in all competitions.
Alexis Mac Allister could feature for Argentina shortly as it takes on Venezuela in a friendly in Florida while Hungary (Dominik Szoboszlai and Milos Kerkez) and Georgia (Giorgi Mamardashvili) are both in action on Saturday.
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