For so many fans, international breaks are the scourge of the football calendar. They interrupt the season just as your team seems to be building up a head of steam and putting some results together.
They can provide some brilliant entertainment though if you look in the right places, and they are also a valuable rest for some of your team’s most important players.
The introduction of the UEFA Nations League has meant that we don’t get international breaks filled with totally meaningless friendlies. The games do mean something, even if they don’t garner mass public interest until the business end of the competition.
Here is a look at what international breaks are coming up for the rest of the season and what games are being played.
Due to the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup being held in the winter, the entire football calendar has been thrown out of kilter and many decisions feel subject to change as the season goes on.
There was an international break on the weekend on September 24, 2022, and the World Cup itself between November 13 and December 25 was classed as an international break, with play in the Premier League resuming on Boxing Day.
That means that the final international break to affect the Premier League is set to be the weekend of March 25, 2023. The break will officially be March 20 – March 28.
There are more breaks in the women’s football calendar, so there is one coming between February 13 and February 22, and another between April 3 and April 11.
There is going to be a set of EURO 2024 qualifiers in the March international break next month. These will be the first games of that particular qualifying campaign after the groups were drawn some weeks ago.
England have been drawn in a group with Italy, Malta, North Macedonia and Ukraine, meaning it will not be easy to navigate. On March 23 at 19:45 GMT, England will take on Italy away at Napoli’s Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Then on March 26 at 17:00 GMT, England will host Ukraine at Wembley, meaning they’ll go up against their two toughest opponents immediately ahead of the clashes against Malta and North Macedonia in June.
Northern Ireland will be away at San Marino and at home to Finland. Republic of Ireland will only be playing one game and that is at home against World Cup finalists France. Scotland will face Cyprus at home and then will also host Spain, whilst Wales face Croatia away and Latvia at home.
The England Women are only playing one game during the February international break. They will take on South Korea at home on February 16.
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