The road to Qatar for European countries continues on Saturday with more World Cup Qualifiers involving the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Croatia.
The Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands and Croatia will all be hoping for their first three points of the campaign after losing their opening fixtures on Wednesday.
Belgium were 3-1 winners against Wales but face a potentially tricky trip to the Czech Republic on Saturday evening. Wales will not be in World Cup Qualifying action, but instead face a friendly against Mexico in Cardiff, also live on Sky Sports.
These are just some of the international fixtures on offer on Sky Sports, however, all of Saturday’s World Cup European Qualifiers and international friendlies are being shown live on either Sky Sports Football, Main Event, Premier League, or on the red button.
And not only that, but you can also watch in-game clips and free match highlights on Sky Sports’ digital platforms via our dedicated live blog, so there is plenty to look forward to, including these fixtures:
The Republic of Ireland have a golden opportunity to get their World Cup Qualifying campaign off the ground when they host Luxembourg – who have never qualified for a major tournament. Stephen Kenny can also nab his first win since being appointed as manager in April 2020.
In Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat to Serbia, Alan Browne had ended a 678-minute goal drought by scoring early on for the Republic of Ireland, but Dusan Vlahovic’s equaliser was added to by an Aleksander Mitrovic double. James Collins’ late second was not enough to inspire a Republic of Ireland comeback.
Should they win this weekend, it would be the Republic of Ireland’s first victory since a 3-1 win against Bulgaria in a friendly in September 2019. But they will be without Brighton forward Aaron Connolly, who has been ruled with a foot injury he picked up against Serbia.
Portugal will also be aiming to make it a perfect start to their World Cup Qualifiers as they visit Serbia. They narrowly beat Azerbaijan 1-0 in their opening fixture thanks to a Maksim Medvedev own goal.
Having placed third at the 2018 World Cup, Belgium have got their campaign for the 2022 competition off to a flying start. They were 3-1 winners against Wales during the week, having to come from behind after a superb opener from Harry Wilson.
It was their opponents this weekend who took top spot in Group E though, with the Czech Republic demolishing Estonia 6-2 in their opening fixture. Belgium have won their last 13 games at home and will need to take that spirit to Prague on Saturday if they want to be the early pacesetters in Group E.
However, Roberto Martinez has squad issues to contend with. Belgium’s five Bundesliga-based players – Dedryck Boyata, Koen Casteels, Thorgan Hazard, Orel Mangala and Thomas Meunier – will not travel because of Covid-19 quarantine restrictions. Yannick Carrasco and Thomas Vermaelen will also miss out through injury.