Although there was nothing happening on the club scene last week, the national team matches brought a lot of interesting things. Logically, today I'll focus on how Arsenal players fared in their national jerseys. Together we will look at who travelled with the national team, how much Arsenal footballers played, whether they scored (I can already reveal that some of them did) and other essential information regarding the wards Mikel Arteta's. In the end, we will take a brief look at when and what games await the Gunnets in the near future. So let's do it!
News and attractions
National teams
- As usual at Arsenal, a large part of the players left for the national team meetings. At the same time, a number of players who normally represent their countries did not travel to the meetings due to minor or major health problems. From the fulfillment of the national team duties these players have apologized in advance: William Saliba, Jurriën Timber, Gabriel, Martin Ødegaard, Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard. For most, perhaps it should be a preventive measure, the exception is Eberechi Eze, who injured his calf muscle and should be missing until about the end of April.
Ben White
- English defender joins the national team for the first time since 2022, when he left the national camp before the start of the last championship. Since then, however, there has been a change on the England bench, and so Ben White under the tutelage of Thomas Tuchel. In a friendly against Uruguay came on in the 69th minute to the boos of some of the home fans on the pitch and then was there for everything of substance. First, after a corner kick, he sent with his first goal in an England jersey his team into the lead, but at the end of the match he committed a penalty that eventually meant the final result 1:1.
Noni Madueke
- Noni Madueke started against Uruguay in the starting line-up, but unfortunately he had to due to a knee injury, he was substituted in the 38th minute. The English footballer was pictured leaving the stadium after the match with a brace on his knee. Let's hope it's nothing serious after all. Madueke has therefore logically left the national team meeting and returned to the club, where a series of examinations will await him.
Bukayo Saka
- Bukayo Saka joined the national team after the first friendly match. The reason was the heavy workload. In the end, Saka will not start in the next England game because the England medical team has assessed, he'd better go back to his club, where he should undergo further examination.
Declan Rice
- For Declana Rice the same applies to Bukaya Saku. Rice has not played and will not play a minute during the national break.
David Raya
- David Raya did not take part in the friendly match between Spain and Serbia and watched it only from the substitutes' bench. The Spanish national team will play one more friendly match, against Egypt.
Cristhian Mosquera
- made his debut for the Spanish national team Cristhian Mosquera, who came on for the last few minutes of Spain's match against Serbia. I would just like to add that it was a winning debut, as the Spanish won comfortably 3:0. He also has a match against Egypt later in the week.
Martín Zubimendi
- Martín Zubimendi like Cristhian Mosquera, came on at the end of the game against Serbia. However, the Spanish midfielder saidHe had knee problems and eventually left the national team after the game against Serbia and returned to north London.
Kai Havertz
- Kai Havertz spent on the field in a fierce shootout between Switzerland and Germany, which ultimately resulted in a 4:3 German victory, just over an hour of time. In their next friendly match, Germany will face Ghana.
Piero Hincapié
- Very the national break had a similar course Piero Hinacpié, who played in the friendly between Morocco and Ecuador, which incidentally ended in a 1:1 draw, played roughly 70 minutes. In his case, however, it was a forced alternation. Logically, therefore Hincapie also returned to the Arsenal camp prematurely and will not play in Ecuador's next game (against the Netherlands). We can only hope that it was a minor health problem.
Gabriel Martinelli
- Gabriel Martinelli played just over an hour in the friendly between Brazil and France. The Arsenal winger did not contribute to the score of the match, which was better for France, who won 2:1. The Brazilian national team, including Martinelli, will face another friendly match, this time against Croatia. The match is scheduled for tonight (2:00 CET) from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Riccardo Calafiori
- Riccardo Calafiori had a far more important game on his schedule with the Italian national team than most of his north London teammates. Italy had their first qualifying match for the World Cup. The Italians beat Northern Ireland 2:0 on home soil and will play Bosnia and Herzegovina tomorrow for a ticket to the summer championship. Calafiori started the first game in the starting lineup at the position of the extreme stopper (in a five-man defence) and played the full 90 minutes. He should also help his national team against Bosnia.
Christian Nørgaard
- Denmark also had a qualifying match on the schedule, which included Christian Nørgaard. The experienced midfielder played as a central defender in the match against North Macedonia and contributed to his team's clean sheet as well as to the 4:0 victory. Nørgaard scores his team's last goal, which crowned his very good performance. Denmark will play for qualification to the summer World Cup in the next match, which should not be without the Arsenal midfielder with the Czech national team.
Viktor Gyökeres
- He has shone the brightest of all Arsenal players so far during the national break Viktor Gyökeres. In a World Cup qualifying match, Sweden defeated Ukraine 3:1 to advance to the final stage of qualification, Swedish forward scored a hat-trick. He scored two goals from play and added a third from a penalty kick. I'll just add that Gyökeres played the whole game. Sweden faces a crucial game against Poland tomorrow, in which the Arsenal striker should once again lead his team's offensive.
Myles Lewis-Skelly
- Youngsters also represented. For the England Under-21 national team played the whole qualification match for the European Championship (U21) Myles Lewis-Skelly. The English footballers did not play the game as expected, as they faced the outsider from Andorra only drew 1:1. They will have a chance for reparation tomorrow when they welcome another outsider, this time the team of Moldova.
Ethan Nwaneri
- For the England U21 youth national team also joined Ethan Nwaneri, who is currently on loan from Arsenal in Marseille. Creative midfielder he stayed on the pitch until the 54th minute, when he had to be replaced due to as yet unspecified health problems. There are reports on social media that there are no serious injuries. I even read somewhere that Nwaneri could be ready for this weekend's game between Monaco and Marseille, but I must warn you, that there was no relevant source. While the real health of the English footballer remains somewhat shrouded in mystery, it is very likely that he will not take part in the next national team match.
Max Dowman
- For the national under-19 team played a qualifying match for the EURO in the given age category Max Dowman, who played virtually the entire game. England lost 0:2 at home to Serbia. England's youngsters have two more games tomorrow during the national break, against Portugal and Croatia. Although I don't understand much about the system of qualification matches, I expect that at least one of the aforementioned matches could feature the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history.
Other
- In the past week, the following celebrated their birthdays William Saliba (25) and Mikel Arteta (44). Congratulations and besides good health we wish you a lot of sporting success in the colours of Arsenal.
- In the 35th Premier League round match between Arsenal and Fulham, which is scheduled for 2 May 2026, the time of excavation has been changed. The date of the match remains unchanged, but the kick-off has been moved from 16:00 to 18:30 (CET).
Awards
- March was a very successful month for Arsenal in the Premier League not only on the team level (3 wins from 3 games), but also on the individual level. The proof is the nominations for various awards for the month of March.
- David Raya has been nominated for two awards. The Spanish goalkeeper will be looking for the for the player of the month award and at the same time for the intervention of the month award (Intervention against Alejandro Garnacha's centre from the end of the match against Chelsea).
- Mikel Arteta nominated for manager of the month award. As I wrote before, Arsenal played three Premier League games, won all three and managed to keep a clean sheet twice.
- Riccardo Calafiori nominated for Creative Moment of the Month. I have to admit that this is the first time I have heard about this award, but the Italian defender was nominated for his acrobatic block from the game against Everton.
- You can vote until Monday 30. 3. 2026 at 13:00 CET.
Next week's programme
Also in the coming week the national break will continue, but at the same time club football will return to the scene over the Easter weekend. As I announced in the last Arsenal Weekly, Mikel Arteta's squad will be waiting for the players to return from the national team reunions. FA Cup quarter-final against Southampton. We won't see Arsenal in the Champions League and Premier League (in that order) until the week after Easter.
| 📅 Date and time | ⚽️ Match | 🏆 Competition |
| 4. 4. 2026, 21:00 (CET) | Southampton vs Arsenal | FA Cup (Quarter-finals) |
And that's it from the ninth episode of Arsenal Weekly.
See you next time, I'll look forward to it!
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Editor, administrator and editor of the True Gunner Diary website, but above all a devoted Arsenal fan. I started with sports articles at the Tipsport bookmaker, where I have published more than 100 blogs. If you want to know more about me, check out the section of the same name here on the site.