theScore picks out the best stats and facts to surface following an entertaining slate of fixtures during September’s international break.
0 – Kylian Mbappe hasn’t scored a non-penalty goal over his past eight France appearances. A tap-in during June’s friendly against Luxembourg was his only non-penalty goal in his past 12 international outings.
1 – Trent Alexander-Arnold is one of the major beneficiaries of England’s positive approach under Lee Carsley. After the interim boss’ first two matches, the Liverpool full-back leads his teammates in chances created (seven), forward passes (55), passes into the box (29), and passes into the opposition half (138).
3 – Colombia beat a World Cup holder for the third time in its history – and all three times it was against Argentina. Tuesday’s 2-1 triumph over Argentina followed another 2-1 success in 1987 and a 1-0 win in 1989. Los Cafeteros are the only unbeaten team in South America’s 2026 World Cup qualification cycle with four wins and four draws.
4 – Joshua Zirkzee became the fourth men’s player on record (since 1978) to both score and assist on his full Netherlands debut in Saturday’s 5-2 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other Dutchmen on the list are Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Bas Dost, and Vincent Janssen.
5 – Randal Kolo Muani has scored in each of his last five starts for France. Belgium was his latest victim in Monday’s 2-0 win for Les Bleus.
7 – China’s humiliating 7-0 loss to Japan last Thursday was the men’s team’s worst-ever result in World Cup qualifying and its heaviest defeat since its record 8-0 friendly loss to Brazil in 2012. There was no relief for China, as it conceded a 90th-minute goal in Tuesday’s 2-1 home defeat to 10-man Saudi Arabia.
8 – Scotland is on a winless skid of eight matches (three draws and five defeats). It’s the men’s team’s worst-ever run. The Scots lost to Poland and Portugal during September’s international fixtures.
10 – Brazil is fifth in CONMEBOL qualification for the 2026 World Cup after Tuesday’s surprising 1-0 defeat in Paraguay. The underperforming Selecao’s miserable 10-point haul is closer to bottom-placed Peru (three points) than first-placed Argentina (18 points).
11 – Breaking records is a habit for Lamine Yamal. The Spanish winger has scored three goals and assisted eight times over 16 caps, marking the most goal involvements (11) for a player aged under 18 in La Roja men’s team history.
13 – Sporting CP and Sweden striker Victor Gyokeres has 13 goal contributions (10 goals and three assists) in his last six appearances for club and country. His decisiveness in the final third helped Sweden to wins over Azerbaijan and Estonia during the international break.
21 – Cristiano Ronaldo hogs the headlines, but Bruno Fernandes is Roberto Martinez’s most effective player. Since Martinez took over Portugal, Fernandes boasts 11 goals and 10 assists in 20 appearances. That’s four more goal involvements (21) than any other Portuguese player in that span.
23 – Canada beat the United States men’s national team on American soil for the first time since 1957. Saturday’s 2-1 win for Jesse Marsch’s side in Kansas City ended the USMNT’s 23-match home unbeaten run against Canada.
27 – The Dutch have scored in 27 consecutive matches in the Netherlands. It’s a record for the men’s team, surpassing the scoring run of 26 home games between 1953 and 1961.
40 – Italy won its first away match against France in 40 years. The Azzurri needed to fight back after surrendering a goal 12 seconds into last Friday’s 3-1 victory. Bradley Barcola’s opener was unsurprisingly the fastest goal France has ever scored and the earliest Italy has conceded.
67 – Bolivia finally ended a winless streak of 67 away matches with Tuesday’s 2-1 win in Chile. The ugly run stretched back to 1993.
100 – Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah reached the 100-cap milestone. Both players are their country’s leading scorer, with Kane bagging 68 England goals and Salah striking 56 times for Egypt.
116 – Angel Gomes became the only player on record (since the beginning of the 2008-09 season) to complete over 100 passes on his full England debut, doing so during Tuesday’s 2-0 home win over Finland.
143 – Luis Suarez called time on his international career after 143 Uruguay caps. The attacker scored 69 goals for his country and won the Copa America in 2011.
901 – Ronaldo keeps on adding to a tally that may never be beaten. The Portuguese veteran notched the record-extending 900th goal of his professional career in last Thursday’s victory over Croatia before a late winner over the Republic of Ireland on Sunday marked his 901st finish. He’s scored 131 goals for Portugal, which is a record in men’s international football.
7,435 – The number of days the San Marino men’s team had to wait for the second victory in its history. Nicko Sensoli, who plays in Italy’s semiprofessional fourth tier, scored the winning goal against Liechtenstein last Thursday and wasn’t alive when San Marino won its previous match in 2004.
