The USMNT plays host to Mexico tonight at Nissan Stadium in Nashville for the 68th meeting between the CONCACAF rivals. Mexico leads the all-time series with a record of 34W-18L-15D, and while victory is always of the utmost importance in this historic matchup, there’s no getting around the fact that this is an encounter between two very young sides that are casting their first covetous glances towards the 2022 World Cup cycle.

Portugal defeated Italy 1-0 Monday at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon to go top of UEFA Nations League Group 3 while Italy crashed to the bottom of the three-team group with only one point from two matches. The Azzurri’s worrisome 1-1 draw with Poland in Bologna last Friday served to foreshadow the day’s events: Italy mustered only two shots on target while creating absolutely nothing of note.

For the first time ever in a men’s senior-level competitive match, the Canada national team started three teenagers. 

Well, the match wasn’t that competitive. 

Canada, with teens Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David and Liam Millar in the starting XI, throttled the U.S. Virgin Islands 8-0 in a Concacaf Nations League qualifying match on Sunday in Bradenton, Florida. The eight goals marked a record for the Canada national team. 

Welcome home, France.

Back playing in France for the first time since winning the 2018 World Cup, the French national team received a rousing reception from its fans: a magnificent tifo that portended a magnificent performance from Kylian Mbappé against the Netherlands on Sunday.

If there are two things I know about Denmark, it’s that Nicklas Bendtner is a knucklehead and Christian Eriksen is really damn good.

Both of those truths were on display on Sunday.

Manchester United and England defender Luke Shaw carried his fine form into England’s friendly against Spain today while delivering a truly gorgeous assist to the put the Three Lions up early, but the 23-year-old was subsequently stretchered off in the 53rd minute after being knocked unconscious following a collision with Spain’s Dani Carvajal.

Shaw has started all four of Manchester United’s Premier League matches this season, and it was his finely taken goal that gave the Red Devils all three points against Leicester back in August. 

With Argentina in flux under interim manager Lionel Scaloni and this international break containing only two inconsequential friendlies being played in the United States, Lionel Messi’s absence from the squad directly following his exertions in Russia came as no surprise, despite the myriad of hot takes that are attempting to read between the lines. 

Neymar’s return to the Seleção for a pair of September friendlies against the USMNT and El Salvador brought forth the requisite questions concerning his World Cup antics, and the Paris Saint-Germain star was measured in his response to being labelled a diver before meeting the U.S. in New Jersey on Friday. 

Luis Suarez had a decent World Cup with two goals over the summer. Guillermo Ochoa, however, was probably the highest-performing goalkeeper in Russia. But on the scorching Luis Suarez free kick vs Mexico, Memo Ochoa was left with no chance on Friday night in Houston. 

As I watched the U.S. friendly against Brazil, a fly kept buzzing around my living room. It would fly in circles, occasionally getting near enough to me so I could try to swat it out of the sky, but it always fluttered away out of my reach. That’s pretty much how most of the USMNT vs Brazil highlights looked, with the Brazilians dancing around their hosts for a 2-0 win on Friday night in New Jersey.