Anjishnu Roy 19/03/2025 31comments  |  Jump to last

Eight players from Goodison Park will join their respective national teams during the final international break of the season. Veteran goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was the only one to make it to Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad list as manager. Jarrad Branthwaite, snubbed rather unfortunately, will be in England U21 action instead.

Pickford could go up against his teammate Armando Broja with The Three Lions taking on Albania on Friday evening (7:45 PM local time). The match, set to be hosted at Wembley Stadium, will kick off England’s World Cup qualifying campaign. England are in Group K along with Albania, Andorra, Latvia, and Serbia.

Tuchel’s side will face Latvia on Monday while Broja-led Albania will face Andorra at the same time.

Moving over to the African continent, striker Beto and midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye have joined the Guinea-Bissau and Senegal national teams respectively. Guinea-Bissau are second in Group A of the World Cup qualifiers and will face Sierra Leone tomorrow before hosting Burkina Faso on Monday. 

Senegal also occupy second place in Group B after four matches and they will make the trip to face Sudan on Saturday and return home to face Togo on Tuesday. 

In the UEFA Nations League fixtures, three Everton players could be in action. Winger Jesper Lindstrom received a call-up to the Denmark national team for the first time in 18 months. Denmark are set to take on Portugal in the quarter-finals of the Nations League and the winners of the two-legged tie will qualify for the last four, where they could face either Italy or Germany.

Meanwhile, Jake O’Brien has been called up to the Ireland side and he will be involved in promotion/relegation playoffs along with Ukraine’s Vitalii Mykolenko. The Republic of Ireland will face Bulgaria and Ukraine will take on Belgium.

Everton players’ international fixtures

All kick-off times are in GMT for games available with live TV or streaming coverage in the UK:

Thursday, 20 March

Beto: Sierra Leone v Guinea-Bissau, 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier, 4:00 pm — FIFA+

Jesper Lindstrøm: Denmark v Portugal, UEFA Nations League quarter-final first leg, 7:45 pm — Viaplay International YouTube

Vitalii Mykolenko: Ukraine v Belgium, UEFA Nations League play-off first leg, 7:45 pm — Viaplay International YouTube

Jake O'Brien: Bulgaria v Republic of Ireland, UEFA Nations League play-off first leg, 7:45 pm — Amazon Prime Video

Friday, 21 March

Jordan Pickford & Armando Broja: England v Albania, FIFA World Cup qualifier, 7:45 pm — ITV 1

Jarrad Branthwaite: France Under-21s v England Under-21s, Friendly, 8:00 pm — YouTube

Saturday, 22 March

Idrissa Gana Gueye: Sudan v Senegal, FIFA World Cup qualifier, 7:00 pm — FIFA+

Sunday, 23 March

Jesper Lindstrøm: Portugal v Denmark, UEFA Nations League quarter-final second leg, 7:45 pm — [To be confirmed]

Vitalii Mykolenko: Belgium v Ukraine, UEFA Nations League play-off second leg, 7:45 PM — [To be confirmed]

Jake O'Brien: Republic of Ireland v Bulgaria, UEFA Nations League play-off first leg, 7:45 PM — Amazon Prime Video

Monday, 24 March

Beto: Guinea-Bissau v Burkina Faso, 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier, 4:00 PM — FIFA+

Jordan Pickford: England v Latvia, FIFA World Cup qualifier, 7:45 PM — ITV 1

Armando Broja: Albania v Andorra, FIFA World Cup qualifier, 7:45 PM — [To be confirmed]

Jarrad Branthwaite: England Under-21s v Portugal Under-21s, Friendly, 7:45 PM — YouTube

Tuesday, 25 March

Idrissa Gana Gueye: Senegal v Togo, FIFA World Cup qualifier, 9:00 PM — FIFA+

 

Reader Comments (31)

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Andrew Grey
1 Posted 19/03/2025 at 16:52:57
Great info - Thanks Anjishnu!
Andrew Grey
2 Posted 19/03/2025 at 16:54:01
I forgot we had a cockney Albanian!
Gerry Quinn
3 Posted 19/03/2025 at 18:51:00
Isn't Wiki pathetic – I found this in Jordan Pickfords biography for 2020...pathetic summary...

Pickford again continued to be Everton's first choice goalkeeper, being part of the team that won its opening four games for the first time since the 1969–70 season.

In the first Merseyside derby of the season, Pickford was criticised for his tackle on Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk which resulted in Van Dijk being substituted after six minutes, with what later turned out to be a season-ending ACL injury. The derby was one of the most heated in recent years, with Richarlison being sent off for a late challenge on Thiago Alcantara and captain Jordan Henderson having a game-winning goal ruled out for offside by VAR.

That summed up his whole season - pathetic summary!

Paul Kossoff
4 Posted 19/03/2025 at 19:39:55
Pickford was obviously told to read a statement about supporting the inclusion of money-grabber Jordan Henderson in the England team.

Well done, Jordan, for not asking where all the new generation of world class midfielders have gone?

Andy Crooks
5 Posted 19/03/2025 at 21:43:09
Nice post, Anjishnu.
Paul Ferry
6 Posted 20/03/2025 at 05:44:40
What on earth are you going on about, Mr Kossoff? Utter gibberish.

Nice layout of the schedules for us Anjishnu. Thanks.

Martin Farrington
7 Posted 20/03/2025 at 09:17:34
That's almost our whole first team. and squad! 😬

Thankfully we are clear of relegation; otherwise, bad luck would undoubtedly strike us down.

Good luck guys. Enjoy!

Christy Ring
8 Posted 20/03/2025 at 13:11:13
Albania have said Broja isn't fit enough to play for them.

I hope it's just lack of fitness and not another injury.

Phil Roberts
9 Posted 20/03/2025 at 13:44:39
Nice if Jesper came on as a sub and scored.
Michael Kenrick
10 Posted 20/03/2025 at 13:51:17
Trying to listen to the new bloke… but what a load of malarkey.

Just tell us who's starting!

Danny O'Neill
11 Posted 20/03/2025 at 14:20:28
Some interesting looking fixtures tonight.

In terms of the British Isles teams, both Scotland and the Republic are playing.

And then there's Croatia v France, Italy v Germany and the Netherlands v Spain.

If I was to pick one to watch it would be Croatia v France.

Paul Kossoff
12 Posted 20/03/2025 at 15:03:08
Ferry 6, you really are an obnoxious twat, aren't you?

So you agree with Henderson being in the team, do you? You agree with the Everton keeper praising an ex-red, do you?

Or is it that you just have to disagree with someone's opinion just to make your day complete?

Colin Crooks
13 Posted 20/03/2025 at 15:45:54
Nice work Anjishnu son.

Thank you

Ajay Gopal
14 Posted 20/03/2025 at 15:57:42
Anjishnu, ‘veteran goalkeeper Pickford’ ?? Really? He just turned 31 a few days ago, and goalkeepers usually have long careers- well into their late 30’s. Now, Begovic, Young, Coleman, can be branded as ‘veterans’. Pickford has a long way to go.
Mike Gaynes
15 Posted 20/03/2025 at 16:25:51
Ajay, "veteran" refers to experience more than age in years.

Picks has over 500 professional appearances under his belt. That's a veteran by any standard.

He's actually played more games than the much-older Bego, and he'll surpass Seamus next season.

Christy Ring
16 Posted 20/03/2025 at 20:25:42
Paul #4,

I reckon Pickford backed Henderson because they played together at Sunderland.

Danny O'Neill
17 Posted 20/03/2025 at 20:46:04
Hrvatska going well.
Liam Mogan
18 Posted 20/03/2025 at 20:53:35
Scott McTominay is a good player and would have been a solid acquisition for us.

Lots of rumours over the years but was probably out of our price range.

Michael Kenrick
19 Posted 20/03/2025 at 21:41:04
Lindstrom subbed off after 69 minutes — for the guy who set up Hojlund to score the winning goal!
Mike Gaynes
21 Posted 21/03/2025 at 01:02:11
Off-topic, looks like our new owner is working on expanding his sporting empire. ESPN reports that Dan Friedkin is bidding for an expansion National Hockey League franchise in Houston.
Paul Ferry
22 Posted 21/03/2025 at 01:20:39
I hope at some point that TFG might put a hold on picking up other teams and actually concentrate on what they have. Am I right to think that they cannot shift resources between their own teams? That must be the case. Surely?
Mike Gaynes
23 Posted 21/03/2025 at 01:38:03
I'm not aware that there are any such regulations, although in this case it would seem to be an unwise business practice for tax purposes.

These would be two entirely different business entities in separate countries under two different models -- one a club, one a franchise -- and sharing resources would make for very messy tax accounting.

Mike Gaynes
24 Posted 21/03/2025 at 01:59:18
I know his club career has fallen off a cliff since he left us, but I'm watching our old friend James running Colombia's midfield against Brazil in a World Cup qualifier... and damn, he still has the skills. And the smile.
Paul Ferry
25 Posted 21/03/2025 at 02:29:28
Well, thanks for that, Mike Gaynes, and in that case I wish that it was not "business practice" that was our source of reassurance.
Paul Ferry
26 Posted 21/03/2025 at 03:15:44
Feck mixing tenses, one of my biggest pet hates with students - is/was.
Gerry Quinn
27 Posted 21/03/2025 at 08:02:17
Used to go to the Houston Aeros Ice Hockey games when living in Houston – loved it and was sad when they moved elsewhere!

Go Dan F...despite what Paul Ferry tells ya :) :) :)

Paul Ferry
28 Posted 21/03/2025 at 15:13:35
I can't even see the fuck Gerry or is it tuck or puck?
Brian Wilkinson
29 Posted 21/03/2025 at 16:24:53
I would not be surprised if Tuchel put one of the other goalkeepers in either tonight or next match.

We can say fair play about Branthwaite going in the U21 team, but if it is experiance he is after, I would have put Tarkowski in before Dan Burn.

Gerry Quinn
30 Posted 21/03/2025 at 17:35:21
Paul, if you can't see the fuck, tuck or puck, that is bad luck, muck - which does suck...
Paul Ferry
31 Posted 21/03/2025 at 18:11:04
Wanna ruck lad. I'll see you in Coronation Park at 8 (if it's not locked up: in which case outside Newsmags).
Liam Mogan
32 Posted 21/03/2025 at 19:21:57
Danny 36 - the thing I noticed when I visited Croatia was how many small football pitches were tucked in wherever possible.

It may account for the type of player (great feet, good in tight spaces, able to short pass quickly and accurately) that they seemingly produce at will.

Speaking to the locals, they adore football and basketball and often play on same 'courts'. For such a small nation they punch above their weight.

I still remember that brilliant Yugoslav team from late 80s/early 90s which was stuffed with Croats.

The same was true of for basketball. There's a great documentary on it called 'Once Brothers' about the impact of the break up of yugoslavia on the basketball team/players.

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