From Asunción to Anderlecht: The 12 Milan players called up for international duty

The first international break of the season is upon us, and AC Milan will have a dozen players leave Milanello to represent their country.

It would be fair to say that it has been a mixed start to the new campaign for Milan, who sandwiched an embarrassing defeat against Cremonese in the first round of Serie A with a Coppa Italia win over Bari and a victory against Lecce last Friday.

Now, club action pauses to give way to international fixtures. Milan will have players involved in 2026 World Cup qualifiers, U21 Euro qualifiers and some friendlies too. Below is how the full schedule looks, with games as early as tonight (Thursday 4 September):

Mike Maignan and Adrien Rabiot (France)

➤ Ukraine v France: Friday 5 September at 20:45 CEST, Breslavia (Poland) – 2026 World Cup Qualifiers
➤ France v Iceland: Tuesday 9 September at 20:45 CEST, Paris – 2026 World Cup Qualifiers

Strahinja Pavlović (Serbia)

➤ Latvia v Serbia: Saturday 6 September at 15:00 CEST, Riga – 2026 World Cup Qualifiers
➤ Serbia v England: Tuesday 9 September at 20:45 CEST, Belgrade – 2026 World Cup Qualifiers

Ruben Loftus-Cheek (England)

➤ England v Andorra: Saturday 6 September at 18:00 CEST, Birmingham – 2026 World Cup Qualifiers
➤ Serbia v England: Tuesday 9 September at 20:45 CEST, Belgrade – 2026 World Cup Qualifiers

Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images

Santiago Gimenez (Mexico)

➤ Mexico v Japan: Sunday 7 September at 04:00 CEST, Oakland (USA) – Friendly
➤ Mexico v South Korea: Wednesday 10 September at 03:00 CEST, Nashville (USA) – Friendly

Alexis Saelemaekers and Koni de Winter (Belgium)

➤ Liechtenstein v Belgium: Thursday 4 September at 20:45 CEST, Vaduz – 2026 World Cup Qualifiers
➤ Belgium v Kazakhstan: Sunday 7 September at 20:45 CEST, Anderlecht – 2026 World Cup Qualifiers

Davide Bartesaghi (Italy U21)

➤ Italy v Montenegro: Friday 5 September at 18.15 CEST, La Spezia – U21 Euro Qualifiers
➤ North Macedonia v Italy: Tuesday 9 September at 18.15 CEST, Bitola – U21 Euro Qualifiers

Zachary Athekame (Switzerland U21)

➤ Estonia v Switzerland: Friday 5 September at 18:00 CEST, Tallinn – U21 Euro Qualifiers
➤ Switzerland v Albania: Monday 8 September at 18:30 CEST, Aarau – U21 Euro Qualifiers

Pervis Estupiñan (Ecuador)

➤ Paraguay v Ecuador: Friday 5 September at 01:30 CEST, Asunción – 2026 World Cup Qualifiers
➤ Ecuador v Argentina: Wednesday 10 September at 01:00 CEST, Guayaquil – 2026 World Cup Qualifiers

Luka Modrić (Croatia)

➤ Faroe Islands v Croatia: Friday 5 September at 20:45 CEST, Tórshavn – 2026 World Cup Qualifiers
➤ Croatia v Montenegro: Monday 8 September at 20:45 CEST, Zagreb – 2026 World Cup Qualifiers

Christian Pulisic (USA)

➤ USA v South Korea: Saturday 6 September at 23:00 CEST, Harrison – Friendly
➤ USA v Japan: Wednesday 10 September at 01:30 CEST, Columbus – Friendly

The major news is the call-up of Ruben Loftus-Cheek after over six years away from the English national team. An old favourite of Thomas Tuchel’s at Chelsea, the midfielder will replace the injured Adam Wharton, and revealed his emotions in a recent press conference.

Among the notable absentees is Rafael Leao, who decided not to report for Portugal duty as he continues to recover from a calf problem that kept him out of the first two league games.

All in all, therefore, 12 players will jet off to be with their national team. This leaves a relatively strong group at Milanello including the new signing Christopher Nkunku, who should be fit and firing to face Bologna one week from Sunday.