International Break Round-Up – Cristiano Ronaldo gets Presidential at the White House
International breaks arrive in a strangely abrupt way. One week you’re sunk into club narratives and VAR debates and the next you’re swept into a kaleidoscope of national colours, emotional whiplash and unexpected heroes. This particular window delivered more drama than most. There were red cards, nine-goal statements, immaculate defensive records, lightning bolts from Scandinavia and even a presidential cameo from football’s most recognisable face.
Everything you need to know about the final World Cup qualifiers
Ronaldo sees red then flies to the White House
Cristiano Ronaldo has spent more than twenty years brushing up against history. Records seem to rearrange themselves around him. Yet until this very international break he had never been sent off while wearing Portugal’s colours. That run ended against Ireland.
It was a strangely muted moment. A tangle, an elbow that drifted too high, a referee who paused, reconsidered and reached for red. Ronaldo stood still for a second as if trying to compute what had just occurred. More than 200 matches and finally an international dismissal.
And then, in a shift from shock to diplomacy, he travelled to Washington. One night he was trudging off in Dublin and not long after he was stepping through the doors of the White House, accompanying Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to meet President Trump. The contrast felt almost surreal. What they were talking about remains unknown, but Ronaldo mentioned recently on his podcast with Piers Morgan that he was a big fan of the President.
🚨🤳🏼 Cristiano Ronaldo’s selfie after visiting president Donald Trump at the White House.@DavidSacks 📸 pic.twitter.com/dnBw0f3Z4B
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 19, 2025
Scott McTominay is HIM
Every international window produces at least one player who behaves as though the world has tilted in their favour. This time it was Scott McTominay. The Scotland midfielder opened their crucial match with Denmark by throwing himself into an overhead kick that felt both outrageous and inevitable in the same heartbeat.
The match veered back and forth. Scotland led then wobbled then steadied themselves again. It became frantic. Denmark pressed. Scotland countered. The stoppage time goals felt almost cinematic. Relief and defiance colliding. By the final whistle the place felt transformed. Qualification secured at last, Scotland return to the grandest stage for the first time in 30 years.
Ireland remind us why international football still hits different
In the opener of the international window they stunned Portugal 2-0, with Troy Parrott scoring both goals. That result jolted Group F, shook up assumptions and injected belief. But the masterpiece arrived three days later.
At the Puskás Arena in Budapest, they faced Hungary national football team and the stakes could not have been clearer. Ireland trailed, Hungary led, the roof felt ready to cave in. But what came next was theatre. Parrott scored a hat-trick, the third coming deep into stoppage time, and Ireland clinched a 3-2 win that sent them into the play-offs and left Hungary reeling. They secured second place in the group thanks to that final twist.
Ireland reminded everyone that these moments are why international football still matters. Not the league tables. Not the million-dollar transfers. Just belief, grit and the unexpected hero.
England march through without conceding a single goal
A perfect defensive record across an entire qualification campaign is the kind of detail that usually belongs in fiction. Yet England delivered exactly that. Eight matches. Eight clean sheets. Near zero panic.
This version of England felt oddly serene. Not always spectacular but endlessly assured. The final match in Albania summed up the rhythm. Two goals for Harry Kane, midfield control that rarely broke stride, a goalkeeper who might as well have been reading a newspaper.
There is no guarantee that this form will carry into the tournament. And England always create controversies for themselves. But it has placed England in a rare spot. A team with momentum, with organisation and the kind of defensive numbers that make opponents twitch.
Portugal thrash Armenia with hat-tricks from Bruno Fernandes and João Neves
Whatever emotional sting lingered from Ronaldo’s dismissal did not survive the week. Portugal destroyed Armenia 9-1 and did so with a level of flair that turned the match into an exhibition.
Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick. João Neves, still young enough to feel like he is only beginning to test his own limits, scored one as well. The midfield ran the game with a kind of elegant chaos. Armenia simply could not cope. Portugal looked like a team that are not reliant on any single star. A shift that has been approaching slowly and now appears fully real.
Portugal have now scored 9 goals for the second time in their history!
— 365Scores (@365Scores) November 17, 2025
On both occasions Cristiano Ronaldo was not part of the side!
Are Portugal better off without him? pic.twitter.com/P5gCiQSbTY
Unstoppable Haaland
There are players who define eras and then there is Erling Haaland who sometimes looks like he is defining the laws of physics.
For Norway national football team this campaign has been near-perfect and Haaland has been the machine behind it. He scored in every one of Norway’s eight qualifying matches. He finished with 16 goals. Twice as many as anyone else in Europe in the same campaign. One game stands out: the 4-1 away win at Italy national football team. Italy, four-time world champions, beaten convincingly. Haaland bagged two goals in that match. It wasn’t the only big outing. Earlier he scored five in an 11-1 demolition of Moldova. That game alone sends shivers down defensive coaches’ spines.
Eight wins out of eight. Norway straight back into the World Cup for the first time since 1998. He has become the focal point of a rising football nation. This is forging a new identity for Norway. A team built around a dominant striker who doesn’t simply collect goals, he drags his side into grandeur.
Messi stops by Angola
In a quieter corner of this busy window, Lionel Messi took to the pitch in Luanda. Argentina played Angola in a friendly, assumed to be lucrative for the little magician, to mark fifty years of independence.
Messi moved through the game with familiar calm. He assisted the first goal before threading home the second. The crowd seemed to savour every touch. It was not about trophies or qualification. It was about presence. A global icon appearing in a place that rarely hosts matches of this magnitude.
Sometimes international football creates unforgettable moments that transcend what plays out on the pitch. For the lucky Angolan fans, this was one of them.
Leo Messi received a special jersey from Angolan president João Lourenço in celebration of Angola’s 50th year of independence 🇦🇴 pic.twitter.com/Q1DqCNxmFk
— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 14, 2025
FAQs
Q: Was this Ronaldo’s first red card for Portugal?
Yes – it was his first ever dismissal for the national team in his 226th game.
Q: Did England finish World Cup qualifying without conceding?
Yes – they completed their entire campaign without allowing a single goal.
Q: Who scored hat-tricks in Portugal’s win over Armenia?
Bruno Fernandes and João Neves both scored three goals.
Q: Did Scotland qualify for the World Cup during this break?
Yes – their dramatic win over Denmark secured their place.
Q: How did Ireland clinch their World Cup spot in dramatic fashion?
Ireland beat Portugal 2-0 and then defeated Hungary 3-2 away – the winner coming very late via Troy Parrott’s hat-trick – thus taking second place in the group and earning a place in the World Cup.
Q: What were Haaland’s numbers in this World Cup qualifying campaign?
He scored in all eight of Norway’s matches, ending with 16 goals. In the 4-1 win over Italy he scored two. Earlier he had five in an 11-1 win over Moldova.
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi in World Cup numbers! 📊 pic.twitter.com/xZpd1SxVbk
— 365Scores (@365Scores) November 17, 2025
By Nicky Helfgott – NickyHelfgott1 on X (Twitter)
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