Ten international break prophecies features Angel Gomes saving Man Utd and Cristiano Ronaldo

The international break is over – well done everyone – and we’ve made 10 predictions on the back of it, which we’re calling prophecies because for some reason that makes us feel as though it gives us more license for outlandish claims, and believe us, some of these are far-fetched…

Angel Gomes to save Manchester United
We fully expected lavish praise to be heaped on Gomes after his first start for England. Roy Keane described it as a “busy” performance, which sums it up nicely. Always available, always looking forward and he barely put a foot wrong. It was a very good full debut.

We therefore accept that he could be The Answer For England at the base of midfield, with caution on the basis of our only evidence being an all-action display against the team ranked 63rd in the FIFA rankings, two spots below Uzbekistan. You can only play the hand you’re dealt, and all that.

But could he also save Manchester United? There’s an assumption, based on his nationality and our deeply held Premier League bias, that Gomes would jump at the chance to leave Lille and return to the promised land.

He rejected a new deal to leave United four years ago and has made his name in Ligue 1, but with his boyhood club in a period of transition – to put it mildly – under new owners in the market for quality bargains, a return to Old Trafford at the end of his contract in the summer does feel as though it makes sense for all parties.

The thought of him building a relationship with fellow England international Kobbie Mainoo through the rejuvenation of United is an exciting prospect, for club and country.

Alternatively, he could join Liverpool on a free transfer.

Arsenal out of the title race
Mikel Arteta will almost certainly be without four players for the North London Derby on Sunday, probably six (though definitely not eight), and some of those will also likely miss their clash with Manchester City a week later.

Declan Rice is out through suspension after his red card against Brighton, new signing Mikel Merino injured his shoulder in his first Arsenal training session and will be out for around six weeks, Martin Odegaard and Riccardo Calafiori picked up ankle problems on international duty with no specific timeframe given on their returns, while Gabriel Jesus and Takehiro Tomiyasu are still doubtful.

The goalkeeper, back four and front three aren’t an issue, with all of them available; it’s the midfield that’s a cause for concern.

Thomas Partey will presumably start, likely alongside Jorginho, though there’s not a great deal of pace and energy in that pairing. Kai Havertz could drop deeper, though he’s looked largely ineffective playing there for Arsenal. Leandro Trossard’s another option, as is Oleksandr Zinchenko.

It’s the sort of injury crisis that wouldn’t be an injury crisis at all had it come at almost any other stage of the season, but the timing could hardly be worse with consecutive Big Six games to come, against your two biggest rivals, one for bragging rights, the other with designs on the title.

Manchester City are currently showing no signs of their typical early-season wobble and given their inevitable post-Christmas churn, a couple of defeats to Arsenal may well spell the end of their title hopes for another season.

Cristiano Ronaldo to lift the World Cup in 2026
‘Ronaldo to the end’ was the A Bola headline after Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench to score a late winner against Scotland to claim his 901st career goal, having scored his 900th in victory over Croatia three days before. Say what you want about the guy – we’ve said plenty and there’s inevitably more to come – but he really is a ridiculous human being.

He produced the most arrogant display in football history at Euro 2024, with his continued inclusion eventually ensuring their exit from the competition. Was that to be his end? Was it heck.

“When the time comes, I’ll move on,” Ronaldo said last week. “It won’t be a difficult decision to make. If I feel like I’m no longer contributing anything, I’ll be the first to leave.”

Fair enough. We’re not sure anyone should ever retire from international football anyway. Either you’re good enough to be selected or you’re not. The question is, will Roberto Martinez ever have the cojones to leave him out?

That was the problem at Euro 2024, but by not starting Ronaldo against Scotland after his goal against Croatia, Martinez showed he has enough about him – presumably after a conversation with Ronaldo to check it was OK – to play one of the other extraordinary attacking talents he has at his disposal ahead of the all-time great.

And that’s perfect. Ronaldo won’t be in a fit state to start World Cup games in 2026, by which point there will likely be two or three further brilliant Portuguese forwards who will have emerged. But what an option from the bench when in need of a goal late on or ahead of a penalty shootout in the World Cup final. We can hear the ‘Siuuus’ in New York now.

Of course, none of his goals actually count.

England win the 2026 World Cup under Lee Carsley
We’re making a helluva lot of assumptions on the back of two 2-0 wins over some frankly terrible football teams, but what else can we do?

Gary Lineker told us and we should have listened – Gareth Southgate cost us Euro 2024. If only Carsley had been in charge.

England would have played with the same energy and progressive desire against Spain in the Euros final. Carsley would have played Anthony Gordon on the left wing over Phil Foden. Harry Kane would have been revitalised. Dani Olmo would have been in Gomes’ pocket as Jack Grealish put Rodri’s head in a spin. Trent Alexander-Arnold would have brought his Liverpool boots to Germany, creating chance after chance while not giving poor Nico Williams a sniff going the other way.

Rather than question what the hell Carsley is going to do with all of those No.10s when they return, instead let’s consider just what he can do when all those No.10s return. Exciting, eh?

Trent Alexander-Arnold is the England right-back
It was lovely to see, wasn’t it? It was almost like he had been told to play like he does for Liverpool but better, or at least with more license to try.

Some of the passes didn’t come off, which will be more of a problem against decent opposition, but far more of them did than didn’t. He was caught out of position occasionally, which again could cause issues in future, but that was by design, with Carsley clearly giving Alexander-Arnold far more freedom from right-back than he was ever allowed under Southgate, who recognised his quality but couldn’t abide the risk of him playing passes from midfield without that being his position on the teamsheet.

They were the sort of performances from which there is no return. If that’s what an England right-back can do, that’s what we want to see.

READ MORE: England player ratings vs Ireland: Liverpool Trent, Arsenal Rice, Villa Grealish and no Kane excuse

Harry Maguire > Matthijs de Ligt
“It’s f****d” was De Ligt’s perfectly reasonable non-explanation for his error for the Netherlands against Bosnia and Herzegovina, after which Ronald Koeman said “mistakes are part of football”, before the Dutch boss hooked the centre-back at half-time in their 2-2 with Germany as the £38.5m Manchester United signing was at fault for both the German goals, with Koeman claiming it was for his own “protection“.

It’s not the best way for De Ligt to endear himself to United fans, who were already having to bat away suggestions from rival supporters that they had signed a dud after the 25-year-old was dropped in favour of Eric Dier at Bayern Munich last season.

Dier isn’t even on F365’s famous England ladder while Harry Maguire – a direct rival of De Ligt for a spot in the starting line-up at Old Trafford – is well-placed for a seat on the plane for the 2026 World Cup as things stand after a typical never-lets-England-down display for the Three Lions against the Republic of Ireland.

READ MORE: William Saliba among five Premier League frauds unveiled during international break

Kylian Mbappe the problem
Let’s face it, he was rubbish at Euro 2024 and things haven’t gone all that well for him since. Sure, he’s a helluva lot richer having finally made his dream move to Real Madrid and he got a brace against Real Betis, but he failed to score in his opening three games for the Spanish champions as Carlo Ancelotti is faced with the enviable but tricky task of working out how on earth to get him, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo to work effectively in the same team.

You get the sense that the Italian manager’s famous man-management skills will be fully tested this season while France manager Didier Deschamps reflects on an international break in which his side looked far better without Mbappe than with him.

Goalkeeper Mike Maignan ‘ripped Mbappe to shreds’ after the striker’s display in the 3-1 defeat to Italy, questioning his and Antoine Griezmann’s attitude, hunger and desire, before Mbappe said he didn’t give a damn about what the French public thinks of his performances. Not exactly what you want to hear from your captain.

Deschamps left him out of the starting line-up for their clash with Belgium and Les Bleus were much improved, with Mbappe coming off the bench for the last 20 minutes to miss a host of decent chances.

No goals and no £46.5m windfall. Really not a great international break for the best footballer in the world, who could now be returning to Merseyside in an alternate reality.

Joshua Zirkzee the real deal
The £36.5m summer signing for Manchester United made his first international start against Bosnia and Herzegovina and passed his audition with flying colours.

His assist for Tijjani Reijnders was described as “beautiful” and he took his goal well, with the infamously hard to please pundit Rafael van der Vaart perplexed as to why Koeman decided to start Brian Brobbey in his stead for the second game against Germany.

Brobbey failed where Zirkzee succeeded though, certainly in the eyes of Koeman, who is reportedly now convinced the new United striker will be his go-to guy going forward.

With Rasmus Hojlund still out through injury, now is the time for Zirkzee to persuade Ten Hag he’s also the main man at club level. “I think he can be the type that scores at least 20 goals every year,” said prominent Dutch pundit Hans Kraay Jr, in a prediction that will warm the cockles of Red Devil hearts.

A Scottish revolution in Naples
The Napoli ultras were presumably enthused by the thought of new manager Antonio Conte signing two Premier League midfielders as part of his £130m summer spending spree, but a tad surprised that he selected a duo that they had just seen play a leading role in one of the limpest exits from a European Championship in living memory.

But both Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour impressed in the defeats to Poland and Portugal, with McTominay scoring in each game, making it ten in his last 13 competitive appearances for his country, while Gilmour also found the net against Poland and dictated that game for large periods, as he is wont to do.

We’re fully on board with two Scotsmen at the heart of the Napoli midfield and we will forever have soft spots for McTominay and Gilmour, who were given shorter shrift by their boyhood Big Clubs than they deserved. It’s hard to see it working out for them at Napoli, but that’s more down to fears for their jarring accents and pasty skin on the Amalfi coast than their suitability as footballers.

Trey Nyoni breakout season for Liverpool
The 17-year-old enjoyed what many committed fans thought to be a breakout pre-season, which rarely immediately leads to breakout season proper, but his displays for the England Under-18s in the Lafarge Foot Avenir tournament have sparked further hope that Arne Slot – a manager renowned for giving young players opportunities – may see Nyoni as a genuine first-team option this season.

The playmaker scored against both Portugal and France, and there may well be an opening in the first-team squad for a player able to so regularly find the net from midfield.