Three West Ham United players enjoyed successful Friday evenings in qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as Dinos Mavropanos, Tomáš Souček and El Hadji Malick Diouf all started in victories for their countries.
Mavropanos' Greece were the biggest winners on the night, as they thumped Belarus 5-1 to take an early lead in UEFA Group C.
The Hammers defender played all 90 minutes in Piraeus, and although he picked up a yellow card in the 16th minute, it did not hamper his evening.
By that stage Greece were already 1-0 up, and they eventually romped to a dominant four-goal victory,
Staying in Europe, Souček earned his 82nd Czechia cap as they made it four wins from five Group L qualifiers by seeing off Montenegro.
A goal in each half was enough to seal the 2-0 success in Podgorica, keeping the Czech hopes of reaching a first World Cup since 2006 on track.
They currently top the group, three points ahead of Croatia, although they do have two games in hand on the leaders. The two meet in a potentially pivotal clash next month.
Another 2-0 winner on Friday was Diouf's Senegal, over Sudan in their case.
First half strikes by Kalidou Koulibaly and Pape Matar Sarr got the job done in Dakar, where Diouf was winning his seventh senior cap.
The Lions of Teranga move three points clear of their opponents in CAF Group B and keep pace with DR Congo, sitting a single point behind in second, with three games remaining.
Mads Hermansen, meanwhile, was an unused substitute in Denmark's 0-0 draw with Scotland.
At Under-21 level, new Hammers signing Mateus Fernandes was a starter in Portugal's 5-0 win against Azerbaijan in Barcelos.
The young Portuguese were being held 0-0 at the break, but raced away with the contest in the second 45 minutes to get their qualification campaign for the 2027 UEFA U21 European Championship off to the perfect start.
Finally, Lewis Orford played an hour of England U20s' narrow 2-1 defeat to Italy in Chesterfield.
Liverpool's Jayden Danns cancelled out Lorenzo Ricco's opener, only for a late Jamal Iddirissou strike to prove decisive.
