World Cup qualifying begins, U21 Euros get started

European qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar get underway during the upcoming international break. Also on the cards is the group stage of the U21 European Championship in Hungary and Slovenia. A total of four Schalke players will be in action for their countries across the two competitions. schalke04.de looks ahead to the international fixtures.

Sead Kolasinac and his Bosnia-Herzegovina side will contest two World Cup qualifiers in group D: Schalke’s captain will head to Finland on Wednesday (24/3) before another match against the reigning world champions France the following week (31/3). Kolasinac also has a friendly match scheduled against Costa Rica for Saturday (27/3).

Royal Blues go head to head in group F

There are two Schalke players involved in group F, Frederik Ronnow (Denmark) and Alessandro Schöpf (Austria). They will do direct battle on Wednesday (31/3) in Vienna. Before that, though, both have other fixtures to prepare for. Denmark take on Israel on Thursday (25/3) before facing Moldova three days later. Austria are in action in Scotland (25/3) before a game against the Faroe Islands on Sunday (28/3).

The German authorities have removed Great Britain from the list of countries with dangerous coronavirus variants. That means that players are no longer required to quarantine when arriving back in Germany, and clubs are therefore obligated to release players. The Austrian FA has selected a total of 29 players for the World Cup qualifiers. Alongside Schöpf, there are 18 other players who are also contracted to German clubs.

Potential debut for Thiaw

Malick Thiaw is in the Germany U21 squad for the first time as they prepare for the European Championship in Hungary. Germany are in group A where they will face the hosts on Wednesday (24/3), the Netherlands on Saturday (27/3) and Romania on Tuesday (30/3).

Fixtures at a glance:

Sead Kolasinac
World Cup qualifiers
Finland – Bosnia-Herzegovina, 24/3, 20:45 CET, Helsinki
Bosnia-Herzegovina – France, 31/3, 20:45 CEST, Sarajevo
Friendly
Bosnia-Herzegovina – Costa Rica, 27/3, 18:00 CET, Zenica

Frederik Rönnow
World Cup qualifiers
Israel – Denmark, 25/3, 18:00 CET, Tel Aviv
Denmark – Moldova, 28/3, 18:00 CET, Herning
Austria – Denmark, 31/3, 20:45 CEST, Vienna

Alessandro Schöpf
World Cup qualifiers
Scotland – Austria, 25/3, 20:45 CET, Glasgow
Austria – Faroe Islands, 28/3, 20:45 CET, Vienna
Austria – Denmark, 31/3, 20:45 CEST, Vienna

Malick Thiaw
EURO U21
Hungary – Germany, 24/3, 21:00 CET, Szekesfehervar
Germany – Netherlands, 27/3, 21:00 CET, Szekesfehervar
Germany – Romania, 30/3, 18:00 CEST, Budapest