What felt like the longest-ever international break outside of major tournaments is finally ending. Although there wasn’t much high-stakes action on offer, we have seen some major storylines develop over the last three weeks.

As ever, a fair few major European powerhouses have changed coaches between World Cup cycles.

Arguably most notable among them are France, who finally confirmed Zinedine Zidane’s appointment as Didier Deschamps’ successor. Besides wowing everyone with his first touches on the sideline, the former Real Madrid midfielder has Les Bleus adopting a more front-footed approach than what they were used to over the previous decade or so. This is particularly evident out of possession, as they often start in a fully player-oriented high block and try to pen opponents into a corner by taking away all passing options. They haven’t been entirely solid and could improve in terms of both balance and cohesion, but the intent is promising to see given the mind-boggling quality in the squad.

To illustrate the final point, the goal-scorers in France’s turnaround win over Belgium were all substitutes, namely Michael Olise, Rayan Cherki and Désiré Doué. Their bench is simply ridiculous.

Les Bleus are currently sitting on top of their Nations League group with 10 points from a possible 12. They only scored once in three of their games, but when Zidane settles on his first-choice XI and the players develop their familiarity with their roles, France could easily become world-beaters again.

Certainly in terms of results, Jürgen Klopp and Germany have not had quite as good a start since they only have half as many points. Their only win came against Serbia, while Greece shut them out in both games and even handed them a defeat.

As far as performances are concerned, though, it should not be all doom and gloom. For one, signs of a typical Klopp team were evident in certain regards such as counterpressing. Moreover, the ex-Liverpool boss called up two almost entirely different squads for either pair of matches, thus trialling a wide pool of players. For what is essentially a glorified friendly competition, this is a perfectly sensible approach for a team looking to reset ahead of the next major tournament.

One of two teams with a perfect record in League A are Portugal, who are also under new management. Despite the successful results, Jorge Jesus’ first matches in charge of his national team have been overshadowed by the mid-window exit of Cristiano Ronaldo, who withdrew from the squad after being left as an unused substitute in Norway. This unsurprisingly did not have a negative impact on the team’s performances since he has been actively detrimental to them for at least two World Cups.

That Jesus finally emerged as the Portuguese coach to develop a backbone against Ronaldo also wasn’t unexpected for those familiar with his work. The 72-year-old tactician has been pretty successful in leading well-stocked teams to titles in relatively weaker or lopsided leagues over the last two decades, but that does not mean he is lax in his methods. He famously oversaw Neymar’s exit from Al-Hilal, compensating for it by getting the best out of Saudi star Salem Al-Dawsari. He spent the last season with their crosstown rivals Al-Nassr, fulfilling a promise to deliver Ronaldo’s coveted Pro League. He seemed to have a good relationship with his compatriot in Riyadh and managed his minutes quite well, but that clearly did not deter him from taking a stand at the Seleção.
What happens next remains to be seen, but a Ronaldo-less Portugal squad definitely has the potential to compete for major honours in the near future.

Ronaldo has responded to the controversy with a lengthy essay on his Instagram, and it’s full of gems:

Elsewhere, Xavi’s Netherlands have turned out to be exactly what you’d expect from a Xavi team, putting up the highest xG tally so far in League A but ranking 10th by way of xG conceded. Croatia’s seven-goal thrashing at the hands of England has been the standout result in Group 3, where Spain set a new world record for the longest unbeaten streak for a senior men’s national team (and are still going strong at 42.

The more serious business took place in Africa, where qualification for next year’s Cup of Nations is in full swing right after the World Cup. The 48 contestants have been split into 12 groups of four, with the top two in most earning tickets to East Africa – the exception being the three groups which contain the already-qualified hosts where only one spot is on offer. Two matches in, only eight teams have 100% records.

The loudest alarm bells have to be ringing in Ghana. The Black Stars watched AFCON from afar for the first time in two decades during the 2025 tournament, and are now at serious risk of making it consecutive absences. Their inability to defend their box and general lack of cohesion was exposed in defeats to Côte d'Ivoire and Gambia. Carlos Queiroz – who was only appointed in the lead-up to the World Cup – has been sacked, but the damage could well already be done.

Another potential major absentee are World Cup darlings Cabo Verde, who lost both of Humberto Bettencourt’s first matches in charge. The Blue Sharks were made to pay for a lack of defensive control against Mali before being upset by Rwanda, meaning they too are six points off the qualifying spots. Much like Ghana, they will likely need to win all remaining games if they are to avoid a consecutive AFCON absence.

After missing out on the World Cup, a Victor Osimhen-less Nigeria managed to eke out a turnaround win over Madagascar, but followed it up with a comprehensive defeat to Guinea-Bissau. They still are in second place in their group, but the pressure is on since Tanzania’s inclusion means only the group winner will qualify. Either way, Éric Chelle’s 4-3-1-2 setup continues to flatter to deceive, so questions will continue to linger even if they get the job done.

There were quite a few friendlies scheduled since many Asian and all South American sides had no competitive engagements, while African sides also had the last week free. Argentina opted to take on the mighty Benin for Lionel Messi’s farewell, which ended 3-0 with the little magician assisting two and putting a penalty into the top corner.

A couple of other interesting tidbits include Indonesia winning the inaugural edition of the FIFA ASEAN Cup (for Southeast Asian teams, though they invited a few others as well) on home soil, while the Arabian Gulf Cup ended with Saudi Arabia winning on home soil. The tournament was in the news internationally at the end of its group stage, as Iraq and Oman were tied for second place in Group A with identical records. Oman could’ve avoided the situation had Musab Al-Shaqsy not taken his shirt off to celebrate their last goal; his booking placed both teams level on eight yellow cards as well. He wasn’t left to rue that decision too much, though, as Al-Ahmar earned the knockout berth after a draw of lots.

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