West Ham International Roundup: Michail Antonio scores wonder goal

It was a dramatic international break for many West Ham stars, littered with wonder goals (Michail Antonio), final day deciders (Nikola Vlasic) and influential performances (Said Benrahma).

Here, we roundup the fortunes of every West Ham United player who participated in the international break.

AFRICAN REGION (CAF)

ALGERIA (Said Benrahma)

Algeria entered the international break in a tight race against Burkina Faso to qualify for the third stage. With only top spot being good enough to progress, both teams entered the week tied on 10 points with Algeria holding a goal differential advantage.

On Friday, Algeria won 4-0 at Djibouti with Said Benrahma, taking the game away from the home team late in the first half. Benrahma lashed a shot home in the 40th minute for his first international goal, before threading a through ball to former West Ham man, Sofiane Feghouli (Galatasaray), who made the score 3-0 at the half. Benrahma, who has been in great form in the Europa League, had a late shot saved by goalkeeper Innocent Hankuye, only for Islam Slimani (Lyon) to head home the rebound and bring the score to 4-0.

Burkina Faso were held to a 1-1 draw by Niger, meaning that Algeria would qualify with a win or draw when they hosted Burkina Faso on Tuesday. Benrahma entered the game in the 69th minute with his team 2-1 up, and helped his team to hang on for the vital point despite conceding a late penalty to bring the final score to 2-2.

STAT ATTACK: Benrahma has now registered one goal and four assists in 14 games for Algeria in his international career to date.

D.R. CONGO (Arthur Masuaku)

It was a dramatic and successful week for left-back Arthur Masuaku and D.R. Congo, who entered the international break in third place, two points behind Tanzania and Benin in Group J.

Masuaku was an injury replacement for Glody Ngonda (Riga FC) in the 40th minute of the first game against group leading Tanzania, entering with his team 1-0 up and helping close out a 3-0 win. Group leaders Benin held serve with a 2-0 win over Madagascar, setting up a dramatic final day showdown.

D.R. Congo entered the last group game two points behind Benin, meaning only a win would be good enough to progress when they hosted The Squirrels on Sunday. Masuaku played all 90 minutes, anchoring the backline as goals from Dieumerci Mbokani (Al Kuwait) and Ben Malango Ngita (Al Sharjah) fired his team to a 2-0 victory.

On the back of the victory, D.R. Congo will now enter the final round of African qualification, and be drawn into a home and away fixture with the winner progressing to the tournament in Qatar.

STAT ATTACK: Masuaku made four interceptions and one clearance during the pivotal win over Benin.

EUROPEAN REGION (UEFA) 

CROATIA (Nikola Vlasic)

Croatia entered the international break with a playoff spot sealed, but sat two points behind Group H leaders Russia in the race for automatic qualification. On Thursday, Hammers midfielder Nikola Vlasic replaced captain Luka Modric (Real Madrid) from the bench during a 7-1 romp in Malta.

The emphatic win set up a dramatic final day when Croatia hosted Russia in Split knowing only a win would see them top the group. Vlasic started the Russia showdown on the right wing before being replaced by Bruno Petkovic (Dinamo Zagreb) in the 58th minute. Croatia pulled out a dramatic win by forcing an 81st minute own goal to top the group and stamp their ticket to Qatar.

Vlasic’s West Ham minutes could be in danger if the club re-sign Jesse Lingard. However, we know Vlasic is being eased in under David Moyes, similarly to the treatment Said Benrahma first got when he joined the Hammers.

STAT ATTACK: Vlasic completed 15 of 17 passes during his 58 minute shift in the decisive victory against Russia.

CZECH REPUBLIC (Vladimir Coufal, Tomas Soucek and Alex Kral)

Featuring the Hammers trio of Vladimir Coufal, Tomas Soucek and Alex Kral, Czech Republic entered the international break in a duel with Wales for the Group E playoff spot behind leaders Belgium. With both teams tied on 11 points, the Czech’s held a goal differential advantage but had played one extra game.

In a Thursday friendly against Kuwait, two of the West Ham “Czech Mates”, Coufal and Soucek started and Kral came off the bench in the 61st minute of an emphatic 7-0 win. Coufal assisted on the opening goal by Antonin Barak (Verona) and Soucek fired home the fourth goal in the 57th minute against an outmanned opponent.

Sadly, the goals scored in the friendly did not impact the World Cup qualifying standings and Wales jumped into second place courtesy of a 5-1 competitive win over Belarus on Saturday.

Going into the final day, Czech Republic needed Wales to lose against group leaders Belgium. A 1-1 draw for the Welsh secured them a playoff place, rendering the Czech’s 2-0 win over Estonia ultimately meaningless. Soucek dropped out of the starting eleven, with Kral being drafted in to start the final game.

STAT ATTACK:  Soucek and Coufal both completed an identical total of 104 passes against Malta, more than any other player on the field.

FRANCE (Kurt Zouma and Alphonse Areola)

It was a stress free opening game of the international window for West Ham duo Kurt Zouma and Alphonse Areola. The pair were unused substitutes on Saturday as the defending world champions rolled to an 8-0 victory over Kazakhstan.

The result guaranteed France first place in the group, but a fellow hammer would be relying on them to defeat Finland on the final gameday of Group D. With one game left, France held pole position on 15 points, four ahead of second place Finland who they would travel to face in Helsinki.

Areola was again an unused substitute, but Zouma earned his 9th cap and played all 90 minutes in a 2-0 win that opened up the door for third placed Andriy Yarmolenko’s Ukraine.

STAT ATTACK: Zouma played his part as France extended their streak without conceding a goal in World Cup qualification to 316 minutes.

SPAIN (Pablo Fornals)

Spain entered the week in second place of Group D on 13 points, sandwiched between group leaders Sweden (15) and Greece (9). On Thursday, Spain eliminated Greece from contention with a 1-0 win in Athens.

West Ham star, Pablo Fornals, entered the Greece game at the 65 minute mark, helping the Spaniards close out the game after a first half penalty from Pablo Sarabia (Sporting Lisbon).

Spain received an unexpected boost when Sweden lost 2-0 in Georgia, allowing La Roja to take pole position, and now needed only a draw in their last home game against Sweden to seal qualification.

Fornals did not play against the Swedes, but would have been delighted to see an 86th minute strike from Alvaro Morata (Juventus) seal a spot in the World Cup finals.

STAT ATTACK:  Fornals competed 14 of 18 passes, and 2 of 2 crosses during his cameo against Greece.

UKRAINE (Andriy Yarmolenko)

Ukraine entered the international break holding second place and the play-off spot having played one game more than third placed Finland. Play started for Oleksandr Petrakov’s men with a friendly against Bulgaria. Andriy Yarmolenko captained Ukraine and played all 90 minutes on the right wing of a front three in a 1-1 draw.

On Saturday, Ukraine slipped into third place courtesy of Finland winning 3-1 in Bosnia, meaning they would need to win in Bosnia on the last day and hope France could get at least a point in Finland.

France did their part with a 2-0 win, and with Yarmolenko on the wing for 85 minutes, Ukraine achieved a crucial 2-0 win over Bosnia courtesy of goals from Oleksandr Zinchenko (Manchester City) and Artem Dobvyk (Dnipro-1). The result clinched a spot for Ukraine in the playoff draw that will take place on November 26th.

STAT ATTACK: Yarmolenko led all Ukraine players with eight successful dribbles (73% completion rate) during the draw with Bulgaria.

NORTH & CENTRAL AMERICA REGION (CONCACAF)

JAMAICA (Michail Antonio)

Having made his debut back in September, West Ham striker, Michail Antonio, joined up with his Jamaica team badly needing points to stay alive in the qualification race. With the top three qualifying for the World Cup, and fourth place entering a play-off, Jamaica entered this break three points behind Panama in the play-off spot.

On Friday, Antonio fired Jamaica in front at El Salvador with his first international goal, only for the Reggae Boyz to concede a 90th minute equaliser and be held to one point. In a tough home game against group leaders USA on Tuesday, Antonio launched a thunderbolt to level the scores and pick up another 1-1 draw with his team. We’d love to see the West Ham record breaker get more outstanding goals like this.

With six games remaining, Jamaica now have to bridge an eight point gap to catch Paraguay and contend for the play-off spot.

STAT ATTACK: Antonio was clinical with his finishing, scoring two goals from only four total shots across both games.