2 hours ago
12
The final international break of 2025 is drawing to a close, and some of Liverpool’s players’ World Cup hopes are still on the line ahead of their return to Merseyside.
Arne Slot will of course get his squad back later this week, and he’ll be keeping his fingers crossed that there are no new injuries to report ahead of facing Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
There are still a few more games to go before he can breathe a bit more easily, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Florian Wirtz and Andy Robertson still having games to play in the next couple of days.
Four more of Liverpool’s stars were in action on Sunday, although it proved to be a day to forget for two of them as their hopes of reaching next year’s tournament were cruelly crushed, while there has been some good news regarding Mohamed Salah.
Here is the latest international round-up on Liverpool’s players…
Dominik Szoboszlai and Milos Kerkez
Hungary’s World Cup dream was shattered in the most dramatic of circumstances as it fell to a 3-2 defeat at home to the Republic of Ireland in its final qualifying game. Troy Parrott completed his hat-trick deep into stoppage time as the visitors staged a remarkable comeback to steal a play-off spot away from their hosts.
Liverpool duo Dominik Szoboszlai and Milos Kerkez both played the full game, and left their mark on it as both recorded assists during the first half. Hungary had looked to be on course to secure a play-off spot, even when Ireland drew level with just 10 minutes remaining.
But Parrott struck in the 96th minute to break Szoboszlai and Kerkez’s hearts, with the former barely able to speak to the host nation’s media afterward as his dream of playing in next year’s tournament went up in smoke.
Mohamed Salah
Salah wasn’t in action on Sunday, although Slot and Liverpool fans will be more than happy with the news coming out of Egypt’s camp regarding the 33-year-old.
Having lost to Uzbekistan in the Al Ain International Cup in Dubai on Friday, Egypt is now due to face Cape Verde in a third-place play-off on Monday - an even more pointless endeavor then most third-place play-offs, which is saying something.
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
The good news for Liverpool though is that Salah won’t be involved, with the decision having been made to leave the winger out of the Pharaohs’ squad for tomorrow’s game, which will come as a huge relief to the Reds after he played the full 90 minutes against Uzbekistan.
Ibrahima Konate and Hugo Ekitike
With their qualification for the World Cup already safely secure, Ibrahima Konate and Hugo Ekitike were essentially given free reign for their final qualifying game in Azerbaijan.
Both players started, and also played the full 90 minutes - something Slot might not be best pleased about given there was nothing riding on the game for either side. France though closed things out in style with a 3-1 win in Baku, having surprisingly fallen behind after just four minutes in Baku.
Neither Konate nor Ekitike got themselves on the scoresheet - with Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta among the French scorers - although the former was given the honor of captaining his country in the absence of Kylian Mbappe.
There looked to be no sort of scares for either of the Reds, meaning both should hopefully report back to Merseyside fresh and ready to go to face Forest on Saturday.
English (US) ·