International Round-Up Wednesday, 15th Oct 2025 09:35 by Kallum Brisset October’s international break saw some further international recognition for Town’s players. Here is a round-up of all the action. Captain Dara O’Shea was among the Blues’ contingent of Republic of Ireland players to win caps as the Boys in Green kept their World Cup qualification hopes alive. O’Shea started both the 1-0 defeat to Portugal in Lisbon and the 1-0 victory against Armenia in Dublin to take his number of international appearances to 39. Jack Taylor featured from the bench against Armenia for his eighth senior cap, while winger Chiedozie Ogbene, who is on loan at Sheffield United for the season, started the first and came on in the second match of the window to move onto 28 caps for his country. Fellow right-winger Kasey McAteer was an unused substitute throughout and did not add to his eight caps, while Sammie Szmodics had been due to join his teammates but pulled out of the camp due to an unspecified injury. Summer signing Marcelino Núñez became the first Town player to represent Chile during an international friendly with Peru in the early hours of Saturday morning. The midfielder won his 32nd senior cap as a second-half substitute during the 2-1 comeback victory in Santiago. George Hirst was away with Scotland but failed to get any minutes on the pitch as the Tartan Army took another step towards qualification for the World Cup. The Blues striker did not add to his five caps and was an unused substitute for Thursday’s 3-1 victory against Greece and Sunday’s 2-1 win against Belarus, both at Hampden Park. New arrival and Championship record signing Sindre Walle Egeli was not involved for Norway’s U21s having withdrawn from the squad. The 19-year-old, who has previously been capped once at senior level, missed Norway’s 4-1 friendly defeat to their Spanish counterparts in Guadalajara on Friday evening. On-loan goalkeeper Aro Muric kept a pair of clean sheets as Kosovo’s hopes of a place at next summer’s World Cup continued to gather pace with four points from the most recent set of fixtures. A goalless home draw with Slovenia was followed up by a 1-0 victory away to Sweden, which saw Muric, who is currently with Italian side Sassuolo for the season, take his total number of caps to 47. Academy left-back Somto Boniface earned his first international honours since joining the Blues from Chelsea as the 19-year-old earned his maiden cap for England’s U20s. Boniface played the full 90 minutes as the Young Lions were beaten 1-0 by Switzerland at St George’s Park on Friday. Leon Ayinde was also among Town’s academy players to receive a maiden call-up, as the forward was involved with Republic of Ireland’s U21s for the European qualifier with Slovakia on Friday. However, the 21-year-old lasted just six minutes as a second-half substitute during the 2-2 draw in his home city of Cork before being replaced following an injury. Goalkeeper Henry Gray featured at the U20 World Cup during recent weeks where his New Zealand side finished bottom of a group featuring hosts Chile, Egypt and Japan. Gray, who started all three matches at the tournament, was named Player of the Match when the Kiwis beat their Egyptian counterparts in their second group fixture. The Blues also saw schoolboys Zac Wattley, Ashton Begg and Tommy McLoughlin join an England U15s emerging talents squad at St George’s Park recently.
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