England International Break Preview

Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions are set to complete their EURO 2024 Qualifying campaign next week.

By the time the November international break gets underway, the Premier League season will be 12 games old. Several players from all 20 clubs will jet off to all corners of the globe to represent their respective national teams for the next fortnight. Domestic football will pause following this weekend’s action.

There will, of course, be a number of players who will have been called up to play for England by Three Lions Head Coach Gareth Southgate for matches against Malta and North Macedonia. The squad to face these two nations has yet to be revealed, but the players that make up this squad are set to be revealed on Thursday, 9th November, at 2pm.

England’s matches against Malta and North Macedonia are the final two games in the Three Lions’ EURO 2024 Qualifiers. Thankfully, for all those of an England persuasion, a place at the 2024 European Championships in Germany was officially confirmed following a 3 – 1 win against Italy at Wembley Stadium, where Harry Kane (32’ – Penalty, 77’) and Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford found the net (57’).

Southgate’s side currently sits at the top of Group C with 16 points from 6 matches after five wins and a draw. If Ukraine lose their final EURO Qualifier against Italy on Monday, 20th November, then England will officially become winners of the group should they beat Malta in their penultimate EURO 2024 Qualifier.

England’s first match of the November international break is their EURO Qualifier against Malta under the arch at Wembley Stadium. The match will take place on Friday, 17th November 2023, in a 19:45 kick-off.

The Three Lions were victorious in their first meeting in Group C, beating their Maltese counterparts 4 – 0 at the Ta Qali National Stadium thanks to goals from Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold (28’), Harry Kane (31’ – Penalty), Callum Wilson (83’ – Penalty) and an early own goal from Ferdinando Apap (8’).

Overall, England and Malta have played each other six times as of the time of writing. The two nations first met in international football on 3rd February 1971, where the Three Lions won 1 – 0 in Malta thanks to a Martin Peters goal late in the first half (34’).

England has won all of these six meetings to date, including that first EURO 2024 Qualifier that we mentioned earlier.

This game will be followed by a trip to the Toše Proeski Arena to face North Macedonia in England’s final EURO 2024 qualifying match.

Talking about North Macedonia, England will face them on Monday 20th November. In their first meeting of the EURO 2024 Qualifiers on 19th June 2023, the Three Lions were emphatic 7 – 0 winners at Wembley Stadium. The goal scorers were Harry Kane (29’, 73’ – Penalty), Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (38’, 47’, 51’), Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford (45’) and Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips (64’).

Overall, England and North Macedonia have played against each other on five occasions. The two nations first met on 16th October 2002 in the Euros. David Beckham (14’) and Steven Gerrard (36’) were the Three Lions’ goal scorers that day.

Of the five matches they have played against each other, England have won three and drawn two.

The Premier League is then set to return on Saturday 25th November 2023, where Manchester City will face Liverpool, and Chelsea will play Newcastle United at St. James’ Park. On Sunday (26th), there is another eye-catching match between Spurs and Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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