It is gearing up to be another busy international break from a Celtic perspective, with 12 players picked to represent their nations over the coming week. Although there is a break from club action, there is plenty of Celtic representation across the continent, with nations vying for a place at the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico. This break could prove to be an important one for Scotland, who are eyeing up an automatic place at next year’s tournament. Fresh off his scoring exploits against Kilmarnock, Kieran Tierney will be joined alongside Anthony Ralston in Steve Clarke’s squad. Victories over Greece and Denmark will be enough to secure qualification for Scotland, with both players looking to play their part. Meanwhile, on the other side of that group, Kasper Schmeichel will be aiming to deny his team-mates that place. Wins for Denmark over Belarus and Scotland would also be enough for the Danes to be jetting off to the World Cup. It will be familiar surroundings for Schmeichel next week, who is expected to be between the sticks at Hampden, just weeks after Celtic’s semi-final success over Rangers on that same ground. Ireland’s qualification campaign will continue this week with two final games at they look to break into the top two. Sitting one point behind Hungary in second, Liam Scales and Johnny Kenny will be hoping to play their part against Portugal and in the final game against Hungary in Budapest. Benjamin Nygren will join up with his international team-mates this week, working under the stewardship of new boss Graham Potter who takes charge of Sweden. It has been a difficult qualification campaign so far for the Swedes, who currently sit bottom of their group. They will be aiming to round it off positively with matches against Switzerland and Slovenia. Viljami Sinisalo and the Finnish national team round off their five-team qualification campaign by welcoming Malta to Helsinki. With just one game remaining, there is also friendly action lined-up with Finland taking on Andorra. Having already qualified for the World Cup next year, Sebastian Tounekti will join up with the Tunisian national team for three friendly matches on their schedule. With preparations in the build-up to the Africa Cup of Nations this winter, the winger and his team-mates are lined-up to face Mauritania, Jordan and Brazil. Michel-Ange Balikwisha will join up with the DR Congo squad ahead of a World Cup qualifying play-off match. DR Congo take on Cameron, with the other semi-final taking place being contested between Nigeria and Gabon. The winners of both ties are scheduled to face off on Sunday, November 16. With the World Cup being hosted by the US, the national team have, of course, already secured their place next year’s tournament. And there are a few members of the Hoops squad who will be hoping to be part of that squad, including Auston Trusty, who has been recalled. Having returned from injury and produced some strong displays for Celtic, the defender will be hoping to earn some minutes as the US face Paraguay and Uruguay in friendlies. Daizen Maeda will also travel to Japan to link up his team-mates, who take on Ghana and Bolivia in their homeland. Finally, there is also action at youth level for Colby Donovan and the Scotland under-21s who will be reaching the midway point of their European championship qualifying campaign. The young Scottish side will be looking to build upon a 12-0 victory in the last break as they travel to face Gibraltar, before also taking on Bulgaria at home. Best of luck to all the Bhoys across the globe on international duty! Full list of international call-ups Anthony Ralston & Kieran Tierney – Scotland Liam Scales & Johnny Kenny – Ireland Benjamin Nygren – Sweden Viljami Sinisalo – Finland Kasper Schmeichel – Denmark Sebastian Tounekti – Tunisia Michel-Ange Balikwisha – DR Congo Auston Trusty – USA Daizen Maeda – Japan Colby Donovan – Scotland u21s
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