How every single Manchester City player performed on international duty in March 2025

After several years of success, impressive results, and accolades, the 2024/2025 season has proven to be challenging for Manchester City across competitions.

The Sky Blues have struggled immensely through form and injury problems, subsequently being eliminated from the Carabao Cup, UEFA Champions League, and Premier League title race by the early stages of the new year.

The club also find themselves sixth in the current Premier League table, meaning Champions League qualification for the 2025/2026 season remains in serious jeopardy heading deeper into the business end of the campaign.

An FA Cup triumph remains on the cards, but Pep Guardiola’s side will have to overcome Nottingham Forest in the competition’s semi-finals later this month. Simply put, things have not done Manchester City’s way this season.

Inconsistency and injuries to first-team players have been costly, while the recent international break in March put additional pressure on Manchester City’s calendar of fixtures as several senior players went away for a two-week period.

During this international break, several of Manchester City’s senior men’s players joined their respective countries across Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia. But who travelled on international duty in March, and how did they perform?

First, the UEFA Nations League.

There were various matches played this month that produced different results. For example, members of Manchester City’s contingent competed with Portugal, Croatia, and Spain in the UEFA Nations League Quarter-finals.

Manchester City’s Rúben Dias and Bernardo Silva joined Portugal as they faced Denmark. The Portuguese lost the first-leg of the tie 1-0 before turning things around in the second match, winning 5-2. Portugal will now face Germany in the semi-final.

Mateo Kovačić and Joško Gvardiol were not as fortunate, however. The Croatians faced France in a two-legged quarter-final winning the first match 2-0, but failing to maintain this lead in the second leg. France equalised on aggregate and after added time, defeated the Croatians on penalties.

Elsewhere in the Nations League Quarter-finals, Spain defeated the Netherlands after two legs to advance to the Semi-finals. Nico González, Rodri, and Nathan Aké did not participate in these games, however. Finally, Stefan Ortega Moreno – who did not feature in either match – and Germany defeated Italy to advance to the semi-final stage.

These were not the only European matches during the break, however. Several other countries participated in Nations League play-off matches to determine which league they would compete in during the 2026/2027 season.

After a disappointing run in the 2024/2025 season, Belgium found themselves in a play-off with Ukraine. The winner of the two-legged encounter would advance to League A, whereas the loser would compete in League B during the 2026/2027 season.

Ukraine earned a hard-fought and surprising victory in the first-leg, defeating Belgium 3-1. In the reverse fixture, however, the Belgians found their form to ensure that they would remain in League A.

Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Jérémy Doku played an important role in Belgium’s comeback in the second leg, and both will be delighted that their national team will compete in League A during the 2026/2027 season.

Outside the Nations League Quarter-finals and the Nations League play-offs, a third set of countries competed in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification period. In Group I, Erling Haaland and Norway took on Moldova and Israel. The Norwegians defeated both countries in these two World Cup qualifiers, putting them in a good position at the start of this campaign.

Meanwhile, in Group K, England faced Albania and Latvia in their opening two qualification matches. The English won both games. Phil Foden participated in the qualification matches, as well as Kyle Walker – who is on loan to AC Milan.

Outside of Europe, countries across South America, Africa, and Asia competed in qualification matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In South America, Savinho competed with Brazil. The Brazilian national team defeated Colombia in their first match during the March break, winning 2-1.

The Brazilians then struggled against Argentina in the second match, where they lost 4-1. The two results mean Brazil find themselves in fourth place out of 10 spots in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification table in South America.

As for World Cup qualifiers in Africa, Omar Marmoush competed with Egypt. The Egyptians defeated Ethiopia and Sierra Leone in their two qualification games this international break. The results see Egypt at the top of Group A.

Finally, in Asia, Abdukodir Khusanov competed against Kyrgyzstan and Iran in Asia’s Third Round of Qualification. The Uzbeks defeated the Kyrgyz and then drew the Iranians. The seconds mean that Uzbekistan sits in second place in Group A. Should they win one of their final two qualification matches this June, then they will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

As for the youth national teams, James McAtee and Rico Lewis competed with England in a set of friendlies. England’s U-21 team lost against France’s U-21 team 5-3, however, the English then defeated the Portuguese U-21 a few days later. McAtee played in both games.