Gregoritsch scores, Rexhbecaj’s World Cup hopes still alive
International round-up
First Team
28.03.2026, 09:07
A goal from Michael Gregoritsch, a strong performance from Fabian Rieder and an U21s debut for Rodrigo Ribeiro – Thursday’s international matches went quite well for those FCA players in action for their countries.
Fabian Rieder started in Switzerland’s 4-3 loss to Germany but put in an eye-catching performance and was denied a goal by the crossbar. He played 62 minutes before being substituted. Finn Dahmen spent his 28th birthday watching from the Germany bench, having been called up as a replacement for the injured Jonas Urbig.
Austria celebrated an impressive 5-1 win in their friendly against Ghana. Michael Gregoritsch netted in the 51st minute to make it 2-0, before assisting the third goal eight minutes later. The 31-year-old striker also played 62 minutes before being substituted.
Germany’s U21s beat Northern Ireland 3-0 in their European Championship qualifying match. Anton Kade played the full 90 minutes, while Mert Kömür came on at half time to add more energy to Germany’s attack.
Rodrigo Ribeiro made his Portugal U21s debut in a 4-0 win over Azerbaijan, coming on in the 70th minute. Kristijan Jakić played the last ten minutes of Croatia’s 2-1 win over Colombia, while Dimitris Giannoulis started and played 77 minutes in Greece’s 1-0 loss to Paraguay.
Rexhbecaj into play-off final
Elvis Rexhbecaj and Kosovo celebrated beating Slovakia 4-3 in their World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final. The midfielder played the full 90 minutes and helped send his side to the play-off final. The game against Türkiye will take place on Tuesday (20:45 CEST) and the winner will book their ticket to the World Cup.
