A host of Hammers were in action for their respective national teams on a busy Thursday night of action across Europe.
Tomáš Souček captained Czechia in their FIFA World Cup European Group L goalless draw with Croatia in Prague.
An evenly-matched tie saw both teams come close but fail to break the deadlock, meaning Czechia remain behind their opponents on goal difference at the top of the table. Croatia have three games to play, while the Czechs have just two.
Souček and his teammates travel to the Faroe Islands for a second qualifier of the window at 5pm BST on Sunday 12 October, knowing victory is imperative if they are to have a realistic chance of qualifying automatically.
Dinos Mavropanos started for Greece in their Group C qualifier with Scotland at Hampden Park in Glasgow. Winning his 39th cap, the centre-back has been a virtual ever-present for his national team since debuting in 2021.
However, he will want to forget this night in a hurry after Scotland came from a goal down to win 3-1 and leave Greece four points behind the Scots and group leaders Denmark, who won 6-0 against Belarus.
Mads Hermansen’s wait for his maiden cap for Denmark continues as he watched from the bench in Hungary.
Jarrod Bowen was introduced as a second-half substitute for England in their 3-0 friendly win over Craig Bellamy’s Wales at Wembley Stadium.
Three early goals settled the game in England’s favour, before Bowen came on and produced a typically lively performance on his 18th appearance for his country.
Northampton Town loanee Michael Forbes captained and scored for Northern Ireland U21s in their 2-0 UEFA U21 European Championship Group F qualifying win over Malta at The Oval in Belfast.
Forbes has made a strong start to his loan spell at Northampton, making ten appearances and scoring on debut. Since captaining Northern Ireland U21s during the last international break, he has helped the Cobblers to three consecutive clean sheets.
The defender scored his country’s second goal on home turf will hope to wear the armband again when Northern Ireland U21s host Germany at the same venue on Tuesday 14 October.
Joel Kerr captained Northern Ireland U17s in their opening fixture of October international window at the Pinatar Arena complex in Murcia, southern Spain.
Wearing the No11 shirt, left-sided midfielder Kerr and his compatriots were beaten 4-1 by Portugal.
The Portuguese stormed into a 4-0 lead by the hour-mark, with Benfica’s Rúben Correia scoring a stunning free-kick for his side’s third goal.
Southampton defender Calum Anderson pulled a goal back from close-range on 63 minutes and, to their credit, Northern Ireland kept battling but were unable to reduce the deficit further.
Northern Ireland will hope for a better result when they face the United States on Saturday 11 October at the same venue.
Goalkeeper Lanre Awesu was not involved as Neil Ryan’s England U18s played the first game of a double-header against France at St George’s Park.
The 17-year-old Awesu made his international debut at U17s level last season, keeping a clean sheet in a 5-0 win over Mexico in Duisburg, a match in which West Ham teammate Andre Dike scored. Awesu stepped up to the U18s this season, featuring in a 5-1 victory over Morocco as the Young Lions won all three matches of their October camp.
He will hope to have a chance to add to his international experience when England face France again on Sunday 12 October.
