International break 2026: 10 games and 16 players to watch

Club football stops for three weeks and the international game takes the whole calendar. Two ranges matter here and they are not the same: the International side is this site’s front door from 22 September to 9 October, because it stays the homepage until the Premier League is back, while the international football itself runs from 23 September to 6 October. The ten games picked out below run from 24 September to 6 October. Inside the window the UEFA Nations League plays all four of its matchdays, the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers open, CONCACAF Nations League A starts its group, the Gulf Cup group stage runs in full and the Kirin Cup reaches its semi-finals, and there are friendlies from Europe to Oceania. The ten below are a selection and not a schedule — five Nations League A ties, an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, a Gulf Cup group match and three friendlies — with Eastern kick-off times, and sixteen players named in the September squads follow them. The Premier League comes back on Saturday 10 October.

The ten games

Nations League A is the spine of the window. Sixteen nations, four groups of four, and all four matchdays inside this single window, so each group plays its home-and-away pairs about a week apart. Read off the fixture list, the groups are Netherlands, Germany, Serbia and Greece; Norway, Denmark, Portugal and Wales; Italy, Belgium, Türkiye and France; and Czechia, Croatia, England and Spain.

Two things make this break heavier than most. First, a great many nations are starting again. Zinédine Zidane names his first France squad, Jürgen Klopp his first Germany squad and Xavi Hernández his first Netherlands squad, and eighteen more nations name a September squad under a head coach who did not pick their June one: Jorge Jesus at Portugal, Mark van Bommel at Belgium, Slaven Bilić at Croatia, Santi Denia at Czechia, Graham Potter at Sweden, Sébastien Pocognoli at Scotland, Robert Moreno at South Korea, Julen Lopetegui at Qatar, Georgios Donis at Saudi Arabia, Badou Zaki at Jordan, Rafael Márquez at Mexico, David Badía at Haiti, Diego Forlán at Uruguay, Hervé Renard at Ivory Coast, Carlos Queiroz at Ghana, Patrick Vieira at Senegal, Brahim Hemdani at Algeria and Pitso Mosimane at South Africa. That is twenty-one of the nations researched here taking a different head coach into this window from the one who had them in June. Four of the twenty-one are not new to the nation, so their September list is the first of a return rather than a first squad: Bilić managed Croatia from 2006 to 2012, Renard won the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in an earlier spell with Ivory Coast, Queiroz had already taken Ghana to the 2026 World Cup before the GFA re-appointed him, and Mosimane had South Africa from 2010 to 2012. Roberto Mancini's Italy is not a new appointment either, but the FIGC presents his list as a restart. Second, this is the first window since the 2026 World Cup, which Spain won — the RFEF's announcement is titled as the first squad named since they conquered the world. The champions, the runners-up and the third- and fourth-placed sides are all out again inside two weeks.

Ten fixtures from 24 September to 6 October 2026. Kick-off times Eastern. On a narrow screen the table scrolls sideways: tab to it and use the arrow keys.

Date	Kick-off (ET)	Match	Competition
Thu 24 Sep	14:45	Netherlands v GermanyJohan Cruijff ArenA, Amsterdam	Nations League A · MD1
Thu 24 Sep	14:45	Portugal v WalesEstádio José Alvalade, Lisbon	Nations League A · MD1
Thu 24 Sep	15:00	Ivory Coast v GhanaBouaké	AFCON 2027 qualifiers · Group C MD1
Fri 25 Sep	06:00	Australia v BrazilQueensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville	Friendly
Fri 25 Sep	14:45	Türkiye v FranceKocaeli Stadium, Kocaeli	Nations League A · MD1
Sat 26 Sep	14:45	England v SpainWembley Stadium, London	Nations League A · MD1
Tue 29 Sep	13:30	Saudi Arabia v IraqJeddah	27th Arabian Gulf Cup · Group A MD3
Fri 2 Oct	14:45	France v ItalyStade de France, Saint-Denis	Nations League A · MD3
Sat 3 Oct	22:00	USA v MexicoState Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ	Friendly
Tue 6 Oct	TIME TBC	Argentina v BeninEstadio Monumental, Buenos Aires	Friendly

Netherlands v Germany — Thursday 24 September, 14:45 ET, Amsterdam. Two new managers meet in it, and they are not the only ones starting this Thursday — Jorge Jesus names his first Portugal squad to face Wales, and Ivory Coast v Ghana below pairs two more nations that have changed head coach since June. The KNVB's announcement of Xavi Hernández's first Oranje squad flags two debutants in it, Ruben van Bommel and Gjivai Zechiël; Justin Kluivert and Donyell Malen have since withdrawn and Guus Til and Mexx Meerdink replaced them. Germany's is the bigger list in every sense: the DFB's release of Jürgen Klopp's first squad names 44 players across two squads, only one of whom is in both, with Brajan Gruda withdrawing on 21 September with an abdominal strain and nobody called in his place. The group is completed by Serbia and Greece, and the fixture list gives the Netherlands Serbia home and away while Germany get Greece home and away — four teams, four matchdays, so nobody plays everyone twice. Four of the eight Nations League A matchday-one ties kick off at 14:45 ET on this Thursday, this one and Portugal v Wales among them, so two of the ten here overlap.

Portugal v Wales — Thursday 24 September, 14:45 ET, Lisbon. Jorge Jesus's first Portugal squad is 25 names on the FPF release and has lost nobody. Bruno Fernandes is the highest-rated of them on our ratings, at 95, and Cristiano Ronaldo, born in February 1985, is on it. Wales arrive the other way round: Craig Bellamy named 28 and three of them withdrew on 21 September — Karl Darlow, Harry Wilson and Nathan Broadhead — with David Cornell, Charlie Savage and Joe Taylor called up in their place. Wales play four matches in eleven days: Portugal away here, Denmark away on 27 September, Norway at home on 1 October and Denmark at home on 4 October.

Ivory Coast v Ghana — Thursday 24 September, 15:00 ET, Bouaké. The pick of the AFCON 2027 qualifying matchday-one ties the site has researched, and both lists are new ones from returning coaches: Hervé Renard, in a second spell with Ivory Coast, has named 25, and Carlos Queiroz, re-appointed by the GFA, 24 for Ghana, with nine further names added to Ghana's afterwards. Ghana arrive short — Mohammed Kudus, Antoine Semenyo, Baba Abdul Rahman, Nathaniel Adjei and Prince Kwabena Adu are all out of the squad — and Ivory Coast are without Odilon Kossounou and Guéla Doué, with Junior Diaz and Luck Zogbé named in their place. Both sides play again on 29 September, Ivory Coast against Somalia and Ghana against Gambia.

Australia v Brazil — Friday 25 September, 06:00 ET, Townsville. Brazil have flown to Queensland to play the same opponent twice in five days — the second is at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Tuesday 29 September, also 06:00 ET — and Carlo Ancelotti's 26 includes Vinícius Júnior and Raphinha; João Pedro and Wesley withdrew injured and Matheus Martinelli and Vanderson came in. It is a serious test for Australia in front of a home crowd: Football Australia's own announcement describes a squad containing seven potential debutants. Brazil, on our own World Cup power rankings, were the one outright failure against the tiers we published — beaten 2–1 by Norway in the round of 16, eleventh overall — so this rebuild is being done in public.

Türkiye v France — Friday 25 September, 14:45 ET, Kocaeli. Zinédine Zidane's first match as France head coach, and he has gone in with a short list: 23 names on the FFF release, since amended twice, with Jean Butez replacing Robin Risser in goal and Maghnes Akliouche replacing Warren Zaïre-Emery. Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise are all in it. Türkiye, still under Vincenzo Montella, named 29 and have lost nobody; Arda Güler and Uğurcan Çakır are the highest-rated names in their squad on our ratings, both 87. Italy v Belgium, the other match in this group that night, kicks off at the same minute, and the clash repeats on 2 October, when France v Italy and Belgium v Türkiye are both at 14:45 ET.

England v Spain — Saturday 26 September, 14:45 ET, Wembley. The headline fixture of the window. Spain are the reigning world champions and this is their first squad since winning it. England finished third at the same tournament. What makes it awkward for Thomas Tuchel is the state of his list: five players withdrew on 21 September alone — Declan Rice, Cole Palmer, Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo and Tino Livramento — and James Garner and Morgan Gibbs-White were called up in response. Spain have lost one, Pedro Porro, with Iván Fresneda replacing him. Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka are all in the England squad; so are Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Rodri in Spain's.

Saudi Arabia v Iraq — Tuesday 29 September, 13:30 ET, Jeddah. The 27th Arabian Gulf Cup's whole group stage is in the site's fixture list, all twelve matches in Jeddah, and this is the third and last of Saudi Arabia's group matches: they played Kuwait on 23 September and Oman on the 26th. The SAFF named 26 under Georgios Donis and made one change before the tournament — Musab Al Juwayr was left out for disciplinary reasons and Mukhtar Ali called up in his place. Iraq are one of seven nations here with no September squad this site could verify against a federation list and a second source, so nothing on this page presents one for them. The semi-finals on 3 October and the final on the 6th are not in the fixture list either: the teams for them are not known yet.

France v Italy — Friday 2 October, 14:45 ET, Saint-Denis. Matchday three, and the first of two home matches for France inside four days — they host Belgium on Monday 5 October, 14:45 ET. France finished fourth at the World Cup. Roberto Mancini has called up 34 players for Italy and the FIGC counts nine new faces among them; two of those 34 have since dropped out — Bryan Cristante and Federico Dimarco — with Samuele Ricci and Matteo Ruggeri called in. The Belgium squad France meet three days later is Mark van Bommel's first, 28 players, with Kevin De Bruyne the highest-rated of them on our ratings at 92. France, Italy, Belgium and Türkiye share the group and meet each other inside eleven days.

USA v Mexico — Saturday 3 October, 22:00 ET, Glendale. The window's biggest friendly, and a real contrast in selection. Rafael Márquez has named his first Mexico squad as head coach — 30 players, presented by the FMF as the start of the road to 2030 — while Mauricio Pochettino's USA list of 28 is a notably young one, with Ricardo Pepi withdrawing injured and Damion Downs added. Mexico lost Alan Cervantes to a muscle injury on 21 September and called nobody new; Isaías Violante was already on the list.

Argentina v Benin — Tuesday 6 October, TIME TBC, Buenos Aires. The AFA has not published a kick-off time for any of Argentina's three friendlies in this window, so this one is listed as it stands. What is confirmed is the call-up itself, and it is why this friendly is on the list at all: the AFA has named Lionel Messi for this match and no other in the window, and the AFA's president, Claudio Tapia, has described the night as a farewell for Argentina's captain. Argentina's other two friendlies are against Bolivia in Córdoba on Wednesday 30 September and Burkina Faso in Buenos Aires on Saturday 3 October, both also TIME TBC. Thiago Almada withdrew on 20 September with a left quadriceps strain and no replacement was named.

Plenty more is worth the time. The last night of international football, Tuesday 6 October, carries two more Nations League A matches — Croatia v Spain in Split and England v Czechia at Wembley, both 14:45 ET — with Italy v Türkiye in Bologna the night before, and Slaven Bilić's Croatia host England in Rijeka on 3 October at 12:00 ET. The list this site researched for the window is 205 matches, the first on 23 September and the last on 6 October, of which fourteen still have no kick-off time that two published sources agree on. Those fourteen include all three Argentina friendlies, Mexico v Chile on 6 October and Tunisia v Mali on 3 October, and they are written TIME TBC rather than guessed. That list is not every match played in the window: the four Nations Leagues, the Gulf Cup group stage and CONCACAF Nations League A Group A are complete, while the AFCON entries are 27 of the 48 matchday-one and -two ties, the Kirin Cup entries stop at the 1 October semi-finals because the 5 October decider has no confirmed teams, and the friendlies are the ones two published sources agreed on. There is no page that lists all 205: while the break is live the homepage ticker leads with up to six of them at a time on the International side, nearest kick-off first, and a match leaves it two hours after it starts — a TIME TBC match leaves at the start of its own day — so the ticker is a rolling strip, not the list. The Premier League fixtures either side of the break are on the fixtures page.

Sixteen players to watch

Everyone below is named in a published September squad and none of them had withdrawn when this page was written. Ratings are Perfect Eleven's own — the same numbers you draft with in the game, explained in how our ratings work — and nothing here is a prediction of who will start. Being called up is not being picked.

Sixteen players named in the September 2026 squads. Ratings are Perfect Eleven’s own. On a narrow screen the table scrolls sideways: tab to it and use the arrow keys.

Lamine Yamal (Spain, Barcelona, RW). On our ratings he is a 98, the highest number carried by any player in any of the 53 squads published for this window — and he is in the first Spain squad named since Spain won the World Cup. Spain’s window takes them to Wembley on 26 September, then Seville on the 29th, Oviedo on 3 October and Split on the 6th.

Kylian Mbappé (France, Real Madrid, ST). A 97 on our ratings, and the headline name on a 23-man France list that is Zinédine Zidane's first as head coach. France play four matches in this window: Türkiye away, Belgium away, Italy at home, Belgium at home.

Erling Haaland (Norway, Manchester City, ST). A 96. Norway host Denmark on 24 September and Portugal on 27 September, both in Oslo, before the return in Porto on 4 October. Ståle Solbakken named 25 players and has lost none of them.

Jamal Musiala (Germany, Bayern Munich, CAM). Klopp's first Germany call-up runs to 44 players across two squads, only one of whom is in both — more names than any other nation in this window, where Nigeria's 39 is the next biggest — and Musiala is the highest-rated of them on our ratings, at 95, a point ahead of Florian Wirtz.

Bruno Fernandes (Portugal, Manchester United, CAM). A 95, and the top-rated player in Jorge Jesus's first Portugal squad, which is 25 names. Portugal open at home to Wales on 24 September.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Al Nassr, ST). Born 5 February 1985, so 41 during this window, and still on the list Jorge Jesus published. Portugal v Wales, on 24 September, is the third of the ten games above.

Lionel Messi (Argentina, Inter Miami, RW). The AFA's own list is the story: he is in the squad for the 6 October friendly against Benin and that match only. He is not listed for the Bolivia or Burkina Faso games, and the AFA's president, Claudio Tapia, has described that night as a farewell for Argentina's captain.

Jude Bellingham (England, Real Madrid, CAM). A 94 on our ratings. England lost five players in one day on 21 September — Rice, Palmer, Rashford, Mainoo and Livramento — and he is one of the attacking names left: Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Morgan Rogers and Anthony Gordon are also still in the camp, along with the two late call-ups, Morgan Gibbs-White and James Garner.

Michael Kayode (Italy, Brentford, RB). Born July 2004, and one of the nine first call-ups in Roberto Mancini's 34-man Italy squad. He plays his club football in the Premier League, which makes him easy to follow either side of the break.

Massimo Pessina (Italy, Bologna, GK). Born 25 December 2007 and also a first call-up — the youngest of Mancini's nine new faces. Italy carry more experienced goalkeepers, so this is a name to file rather than a promise of minutes.

Cavan Sullivan (USA, Philadelphia Union, CAM). Born 28 September 2009, which makes him the youngest player with a recorded date of birth in any of the 53 squads here, and he turns 17 during the window. U.S. Soccer's list of 28 is young throughout; he is the outer edge of it.

Kristi Montgomery (Scotland, Blackburn Rovers, CM). Born May 2004, a first senior call-up, and a direct consequence of Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean withdrawing: the Scottish FA moved him up from the under-21s. Scotland's window is four Nations League B matches, starting in Ljubljana on 26 September.

Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal, Juventus, CM). He changed club on 1 September 2026, joining Juventus from Tottenham on the club's own announcement — reported alongside it as a season-long loan — and this is the first Senegal squad named by Patrick Vieira. Senegal play two AFCON 2027 qualifiers — away to Mozambique in Maputo on 25 September, where Group J's matchdays one and five were swapped so Mozambique host first, and away to Ethiopia on 29 September — and a friendly against Comoros at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille on 4 October.

The last three of the sixteen take a line each. Ruben van Bommel (Netherlands, PSV, LW) is one of two players the KNVB flagged for a debut in Xavi's first squad. Remo Freuler (Switzerland, Olympiacos, CDM) joined Olympiacos on 17 August and is in a Switzerland midfield missing both Granit Xhaka and Denis Zakaria. And Jonathan David (Canada, on loan at Atlético de Madrid from Juventus, ST) is the highest-rated Canadian in Jesse Marsch's squad at 85, facing the USA in St. Paul on 6 October.

What this means in the game

From Wednesday 23 September the International side of Perfect Eleven deals these September call-ups instead of World Cup squads. All 53 verified nations swap over on that date, each labelled SEP–OCT 2026 CALL-UPS on its roster card, so you always know which squad a nation is dealing.

Seven nations — Cape Verde, Ecuador, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia and Uzbekistan — have no September squad we could verify against a federation list plus a second source, so they keep their World Cup 2026 squads and are labelled as such. They are not September call-ups and we do not present them as any.

The International Daily Duel runs free for everyone for the length of the break: two internationals, one shirt, ten seconds to say who starts in your World XI. It keeps its own streak, separate from the Premier League Daily Duel, which carries on as normal through the break.

The nation drafts sit behind the Season Pass on the International side: Classic, the Nations XI, one player from each nation the wheel lands on; Tactical, where the wheel picks a position and deals ten players who play there; Top 50, which adds elite nations that missed the World Cup; and Legends. Challenge a mate, the nation head-to-head, is there too. How to play has the full description of each, and about explains what the site is.

When club football is back

The Premier League returns on Saturday 10 October with Gameweek 6, and the International side stays the homepage until it does. Until then the table is the live record of where the season stands, the guides hub carries the written gameweek reviews, and fixtures has what comes after.

Every squad on this page comes from the federation's own announcement, with a second source where one exists; every fixture from two sources. The squad research is recorded in full in the site's international squads report, and the fixture data — with its sources — ships with the site. Kick-off times are Eastern and are marked TIME TBC wherever no two published sources agree on a kick-off. Ratings are Perfect Eleven's own, are editorial, and are not a prediction of selection.

Play it: the International side · how the nation drafts work

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