Good news for the FAI. The one superstar not attending the winter World Cup in Qatar, who could sell out the Aviva Stadium at the mere prospect of him turning up, appears to be Dublin-bound in November for an international friendly.
Erling Haaland will seek to extend his 20 goals in 21 caps for Norway against Slovenia and Serbia in the Nations League this month before the 22-year-old faces Ireland in their penultimate match on the calendar.
Haaland, who has scored an astonishing 14 goals in 10 matches for Manchester City since arriving from Borussia Dortmund this summer, should be able to shift 50,000 tickets when Norway visit, possibly on Thursday, November 17th before a trip to Malta, on Sunday November 20th, the same day as the World Cup opening match between Qatar and Ecuador.
Haaland missed Norway’s four key matches during last year’s World Cup qualifiers with injury, as draws against Turkey and Latvia before defeat in Holland left them third in Group G. His value to the cause was accentuated this year as he bagged eight goals in six internationals to help Norway win five and draw once.
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Malta will be Ireland’s last fixture this year with preparations for the 2024 European Championships qualification campaign accelerated by the draw in Frankfurt on October 9th, two days before the Irish women’s World Cup playoff away to Austria or Scotland.
Meanwhile, Uefa have confirmed that Russia are banned from the qualification process to reach Germany 2024. However, the Associated Press reports that Uefa are allowing Belarus to enter the 53 nations draw next month despite a request by the German Government to remove them on account of being military allies with Russia.
Belarus cannot be grouped with Ukraine and, seemingly, will play home games at a neutral venue without fans. Other political situations that limit certain pairings have Uefa blocking games between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Spain and Gibraltar, while Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina cannot meet Kosovo.
