Internationals: Panichelli, Emegha debut and more
Join us as we round up all of Friday's international action involving Ligue 1 McDonald's players, including debuts for a certain duo from RC Strasbourg.
UEFA qualifying: Emegha debuts as Holland held
With France having qualified yesterday, there were far fewer matches involving Ligue 1 players as UEFA World Cup qualifying continued, but neither was there a shortage of interesting moments, at least one of which was one of the continents' biggest shocks of late.
In Warsaw, a Poland side missing the injured Maxi Oyedele (Strasbourg) and Przemysław Frankowski (Lens) still turned in a heroic display to hold the heavily favored Netherlands, one-all, in a match that saw Emanuel Emegha, a late call-up, make his senior debut. Only just back from injury, but having scored a double to lead his side over LOSC on Sunday, he featured for the last six minutes. Another player just returned from injury, Finland and AS Monaco's Lucas Hradecky, would play no part as his side were stunned at home by Malta, eliminating them from qualification. Finally, Toulouse FC midfielder Mario Sauer came off the bench as hi Slovakia side beat Northern Ireland to set up a winner-take-all match against Germany next week.
PANICHELLI MAKES HIS ARGENTINA NT DEBUT ✨🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/xR8bRDFqBw
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) November 14, 2025
Friendlies: Panichelli debuts, minamino scores
Friday also saw more than a handful of friendlies taking place, and a debut for another Strasbourg striker, Joaquín Panichelli, who is currently the division's top scorer. Coming off the bench against Angola, the big forward made his first appearance for his country in a 2-0 win over Angola that also saw Nicolás Tagliafico (Lyon) play 90 minutes.
Elsewhere, Saud Abdulhamid (RC Lens) played 90 minute as his Saudi Arabia side beat Ivory Coast 1-0, with several Ligue 1 players featuring. In Tunisia, both Ali Abdi (Nice) and Montassar Talbi (Lorient) were on the scoresheet as the hosts edged Jordan 3-2, while Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco) scored in Japan's 2-0 win over Bolivia.
