JOY FOR LEÃO, DISAPPOINTMENT FOR BENNACER AND IBRA

A big night of international football took place yesterday evening, with plenty of Rossoneri players involved. Leão is one player who is smiling today: his Portugal qualified for the World Cup thanks to a 2-0 victory over North Macedonia. Rafa came on for Diogo Jota on the 76-minute mark with the Portuguese already two to the good following Bruno Fernandes' brace. On the other hand, there was disappointment for Bennacer and Ibrahimović, who, like Rafa, were hoping to help their countries make it to Qatar.

However, after their 1-0 first-leg victory in Cameroon, Isma's Algeria ultimately fell to defeat in extra time in the return fixture. Toko Ekambi scored the 124th-minute winner, breaking the hearts of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations winners, for whom Bennacer played the whole match yesterday. Zlatan's Sweden didn’t fare any better as they lost 2-0 to Poland, with Lewandowski and Zieliński bagging the goals. The Rossoneri No.11 came on in the 80th minute, replacing Danielson. It was a better night for Ballo-Touré's Senegal, who qualified by beating Egypt on penalties. The AC Milan man remained on the bench.

It was an evening of friendly action for the remaining Rossoneri. France thrashed South Africa 5-0, with Mike Maignan making his full debut and Giroud scoring another goal after his finish against the Ivory Coast. Oli, who started for a second successive match, made it 2-0 from Griezmann’s assist. He has now found the net 48 times for his country and taken another step towards Henry’s record tally of 51. Theo Hernández was named as a substitute and didn’t feature.

Meanwhile, Tonali played 90 minutes in Italy's 3-2 victory over Turkey in Konya. On his eighth appearance for the senior side, Sandro provided the assist for Raspadori to make it 2-1. Krunić stayed on the bench as Bosnia defeated Luxembourg 1-0, while Saelemaekers featured for just over half an hour in Belgium's 3-0 triumph over Burkina Faso. Kessie's Ivory Coast lost 3-0 to England at Wembley, with Franck involved for the full 90 minutes.

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