Ten West Ham United women's team players were in international action on Tuesday...
Inès Belloumou helped Algeria secure qualification for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, as her side kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 success over Cameroon in Doula.
Our left-back’s team took a 2-1 advantage into the second leg at Stade de la Réunification, and Marine Dafeur struck midway through the first half to book Algeria’s spot at next summer’s competition, which will be held in Morocco.
Belloumou, who shone for Algeria at the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, her first major tournament with her country, started the second leg and was part of joyous celebrations on the pitch afterwards.
Over to UEFA Women’s Nations League action, and Verena Hanshaw’s Austria scored a dramatic 89th-minute goal to retain their League A status and win their promotion/relegation play-off against Czechia.
Austria went into the second leg a goal down on aggregate but, with our left-back playing all of the game, levelled the tie through Sarah Puntigam’s penalty eleven minutes before half-time in Vienna.
#TahyaEldjazair🇩🇿@FAFAlgeria pic.twitter.com/7mtgmW6cbp
— Les Vertes d’Algérie (@Lesvertes_dz) October 28, 2025
The hosts limited their opponents to zero shots on goal and things then went from bad to worse for Czechia, as they were reduced to ten players when Barbora Votikova was shown a straight red card with 14 minutes to play. Then in the dying stages, substitute Jennifer Klein, who had been on the pitch for less than ten minutes, came up with the goods to seal the tie in Austria’s favour.
Unfortunately, Eva Nyström and Oona Siren’s Finland will not be joining Austria in League A as they lost 8-1 on aggregate to Denmark following a 2-0 second-leg loss at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen.
Both of the east Londoners started the game. Centre-back Nyström played all 90 minutes, whilst Siren was withdrawn with one minute or normal time remaining, as the hosts struck two second-half goals to maintain their spot in League A.
However, there was delight for Jessie Stapleton and Jess Ziu, as the Republic of Ireland achieved promotion to League A after a last-minute goal against Amber Tysiak’s Belgium won them the play-off at King Power at Den Dreef Stadion.
Both Tysiak and Stapleton started at centre-back, and it was the former who was celebrating come half-time, as a Tessa Wullaert brace pulled the aggregate score level to 4-4.
Our No5 was withdrawn on 66 minutes in Lueven, but her side then conceded at the very last, as Abbie Larkin remained composed in front of goal to swing the tie in the favour of the Republic of Ireland come full-time.
Although she is still waiting to make her debut, Shekiera Martinez’s first international camp with Germany’s senior squad ended in celebration, as they progressed to the showpiece of the Nations League with a 3-2 aggregate victory over France in Caen.
Germany took a 1-0 lead into the second leg and although Melvine Malard levelled the tie after three minutes at Stade Michel-d'Ornano, goals in either half from Nicole Anyomi and Klara Bühl gave the visitors a two-goal cushion.
Clara Mateo made things interesting with a minute of normal time to play, but Germany held on to book their place in the final, where they will face World champions Spain.
Meanwhile, Halle Houssein was an unused substitute for Türki̇ye, who remain in League B after they emphatically saw off Kosovo 7-0 on aggregate in their promotion/relegation play-off at Gürsel Aksel Stadı.
In truth, the damage was done in the first leg, in which Houssein’s side ran out 4-0 winners, but they put the icing on the cake in the second with goals from Melike Pekel, Kader Hançar and Busem Şeker.
Elsewhere, Anna Csiki’s Hungary ended the international break with a 1-0 victory away at Slovakia, as Viktoria Szabo’s goal after just nine minutes secured our midfielder’s side the win in Senec.
There was a seven-goal thriller at East End Park, as Switzerland edged a 4-3 scoreline against hosting Scotland, but Leila Wandeler watched from the bench as her side secured a dramatic friendly victory.
The game ebbed and flowed, and the teams went into half-time level at two apiece, but second-half goals from Sydney Schertenleib and Smilla Vallotto put the game beyond Scotland, despite Caroline Weir’s strike in stoppage time.
There was also another seven-goal friendly at Rodney Parade, as Kinga Szemik’s Poland ran out 5-2 winners away to Ffion Morgan’s Wales.
Our summer signing Morgan played all 90 minutes for Cymru, whilst Szemik was an unused substitute in Newport. Wales were within a goal of their opponents until ten minutes after the restart, when Nadia Krezyman struck, and Paulina Tomasiak and Klaudia Jedlińska then wrapped up the win for Poland.
Captain Katrina Gorry was also in action, as she faced England at Derby County’s Pride Park. Our skipper played all 90 minutes of the friendly, but her side slipped to a 3-0 defeat.
The game was goalless when Alanna Kennedy was shown a red card midway through the second half, and that proved to be a turning point as Aggie Beever-Jones was quick to put the Lionesses ahead a minute later. Swiftly before half-time, Lucy Bronze doubled England’s advantage and Georgia Stanway rounded off the scoring from the penalty spot in second-half stoppage time.
Defender Anouk Denton was not in England’s matchday squad after she received her first senior call-up ahead of the clash on Monday.
Meanwhile, Hammers vice-captain Shelina Zadorsky completed another 90 minutes for Canada, who were defeated 1-0 by the Netherlands in their friendly at Goffertstadion in Nijmegen.
It was Lynn Wilms’ 28th-minute strike that separated the two sides, inflicting defeat on Casey Stoney’s team.
Elsewhere, Riko Ueki was an unused substitute as her Japan team fell to a 2-0 loss away to Norway at Ciudad de La Línea Stadium in Cádiz, Spain.
With a goal coming in either half, a Signe Gaupset brace proved to be enough for Norway to claim the spoils in the friendly.
