Aston Villa players enjoy tremendous international day

One Aston Villa international all but booked his place in the 2018 FIFA World Cup next summer, while five others kept their nations alive with crucial victories.

Friday was a good day for Aston Villa players on international break.

Iceland, and its population of just over 330,000 people, could become the smallest ever country to qualify for the finals of a FIFA World Cup. Three points over minnows Kosovo will put them through after thrashing Turkey away from home 3-0.

Villa midfielder Birkir Bjarnason scored for his nation – his ninth in 61 caps.

Elsewhere, Glenn Whelan, Conor Hourihane, and Scott Hogan were all unused subs in the Republic of Ireland’s 2-0 victory over Moldova. The Emerald Isle kept their World Cup dreams alive with three points off a Daryl Murphy brace.

What follows, is the final UEFA qualifying fixture – a penultimate trip to Cardiff. What’s on the line for Wales and Ireland? The winner goes through to second-round playoffs while the loser will get to enjoy next summer’s World Cup from their couch. Should they draw, there is a chance they both could be eliminated as the worst-placed second-place side. Wales own the tiebreaker on goal differential.

Wales kept their own hopes alive after seeing out a close 1-0 scoreline in Tbilisi. Tom Lawrence scored the winner as James Chester played the entire ninety minutes at center back. Neil Taylor was an unused substitute as Chris Coleman opted for a back four with Tottenham’s Ben Davies at left back.

Meanwhile, Josh Onomah scored this in England U-21 duty on Friday…

Finally, Easah Suliman captained and scored in England U-20’s victory against Italy. A 5-1 scoreline in certainly encouraging for the central defender.

In its entirety, it was a tremendous day internationally for Aston Villa players. Ahmed Elmohamady and Egypt play Sunday against Congo.