Though the Premier League has paused for the final international break of the season, football writer Ben Bloom details when and where Premier League stars will be in action representing their countries before the campaign resumes on Tuesday 1 April.
The final international break of the 2024/25 campaign sees Premier League players jet around the world to represent their countries in a range of competitions.
Some are nearing the conclusion of their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, while others are yet to even begin theirs. There are also Nations League matters to be dealt with in Europe and North America.
Read on for everything you need to know about this international break.
Europe: UEFA
The brief for European teams varies across the continent during this international break: some are involved in Nations League quarter-finals and playoffs, some will be starting their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign, while others will play friendlies.
UEFA Nations League
The expansion of the UEFA Nations League for this edition sees the introduction of two-legged quarter-finals, which will be played on 20 and 23 March.
The fixture between Italy and Germany has the most at stake, with the winning team set to host the Nations League semi-finals and final in June. Sandro Tonali may well feature for Italy fresh from his EFL Cup triumph with Newcastle United.
Three of Liverpool’s defeated EFL Cup finalists – Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo – will look to put the disappointment behind them when they take on reigning Nations League champions Spain, who could also field a number of Premier League stars.
Manchester City’s Croatian pair Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic will face France, while the last quarter-final features a Manchester United battle between Danish trio Patrick Dorgu, Christian Eriksen and Rasmus Hojlund and Portugal duo Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot.
Nations League quarter-final fixtures
All times are GMT.
First legs: Thursday 20 March
19:45 Croatia v France
19:45 Denmark v Portugal
19:45 Italy v Germany
19:45 Netherlands v Spain
Second legs: Sunday 23 March
19:45 France v Croatia
19:45 Germany v Italy
19:45 Portugal v Denmark
19:45 Spain v Netherlands
A number of countries will also be in two-legged Nations League playoff action as they bid for promotion to a higher tier or battle to avoid relegation to a lower tier.
Scotland face Greece looking to remain in the top League A in the competition’s next edition, while other showdowns to play in the top tier include Turkey v Hungary, Ukraine v Belgium and Austria v Serbia.
See: European qualifier fixtures
FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying
Many UEFA countries not involved in the Nations League quarter-finals or playoffs will begin their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign, including Thomas Tuchel’s first matches as England manager.
England start their quest to reach the tournament with fixtures against Albania and Latvia on 21 and 24 March respectively. Their group also features Serbia and Andorra, with the winner of each group progressing directly to the World Cup without the need for playoffs.
See: European qualifier fixtures
Tuchel has recalled Marcus Rashford, who has impressed on loan at Aston Villa, while there could be senior international debuts for uncapped Premier League trio Dan Burn (Newcastle), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal) and Jarell Quansah (Liverpool).
Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White will also be involved after receiving a late call-up in place of the injured Cole Palmer.
Countries including Wales, Norway, Czech Republic and Poland will also start their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Africa: The Confederation of African Football (CAF) | World Cup qualifying
The 53 African nations hoping to book their spot at the 2026 World Cup began their campaign back in November 2023.
Almost all teams have now played four of their 10 group-stage matches, with the winner of each group advancing directly to the World Cup and the best second-placed teams progressing to the playoffs.
Cameroon, featuring players such as Andre Onana (Man Utd), Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford) and Carlos Baleba (Brighton & Hove Albion), currently top their group ahead of fixtures against Eswatini and Libya.
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) and Omar Marmoush (Man City) will hope to maintain Egypt’s undefeated record against Ethiopia and Sierra Leone, while Nigeria’s squad includes Ola Aina (Nottingham Forest), Calvin Bassey (Fulham) and Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City).
See: CAF World Cup qualifying fixtures
South America: The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) | World Cup qualifying
South American World Cup qualifying has remained the same since that used for the 1998 tournament, with all countries facing each other twice in a simple league format.
Of the 10 teams bidding to book their spot at next year’s World Cup finals, the top six in the standings will automatically qualify.
Reigning World Cup winners Argentina currently top the league after 12 of their 18 matches, and face two huge encounters during this international break.
First, they take on Uruguay, who sit second in the standings, before the biggest fixture in South American football against a Brazil side full of Premier League talent, including Savinho (Man City), Matheus Cunha (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Joao Pedro (Brighton), Alisson (Liverpool) and Newcastle’s EFL Cup winners Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes.
See: CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying fixtures
Asia: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) | World Cup qualifying
A long World Cup qualifying campaign that began in October 2023 is now nearing the end of its third stage, after which six nations will secure their spot for the tournament and others will advance to playoffs.
Japan, Iran and South Korea are all undefeated and could guarantee their World Cup places during this international break.
Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min and Wolves’ Hwang Hee-chan will line up for South Korea against Oman and Jordan.
For Japan, victory over Bahrain and Saudi Arabia would seal a World Cup berth for stars such as Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace) and Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton).
See: AFC World Cup qualifying fixtures
Oceania: The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) | World Cup qualifying
For the first time ever, Oceania has a direct qualification spot for the World Cup. This international break will see semi-finals and the final played in New Zealand to determine which country is guaranteed a spot at next year’s tournament.
The runner-up will then join one team from Asia, Africa, South America and two from North America in the inter-confederation playoffs.
After a series of crushing victories in the earlier group stage, New Zealand are firm favourites to qualify, powered by Nottingham Forest’s goalscoring machine Chris Wood. They face Fiji in one semi-final, while New Caledonia and Tahiti will contest the other.
See: OFC World Cup qualifying fixtures
North America: Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) | CONCACAF Nations League
The fourth edition of the CONCACAF Nations League reaches its conclusion with semi-finals and the final to be played in California, America.
The United States are three-time reigning champions and will expect to beat Panama in the first semi-final. The hosts feature Palace duo Matt Turner and Chris Richards, alongside Fulham’s Antonee Robinson and AFC Bournemouth’s Tyler Adams.
Raul Jimenez (Fulham) and Edson Alvarez (West Ham United) will hope to fire Mexico past Canada in the second semi-final.
