International break roundup: Griezmann, Pjanic strikes earn draws for France and Bosnia & Herzegovina

As the first day of international break draws to a close, Barça Universal takes a look at how all the Barcelona players in action for their countries got on. A total of 7 Barcelona players were in called up to the national team squads across competitions.

The European qualifying matches for the World Cup kicked off as Turkey hosted the Netherlands in Group G, while in Group D France took on Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina travelled to face Finland.

Turkey vs Netherlands: The Turks managed to secure a 4-2 victory in a high-scoring encounter against last year’s UEFA Nations League finalists. Barcelona midfielder Frenkie De Jong started and played the full 90 minutes. The 23-year-old completed 82 out of his 89 passes with a success rate of 92%.

The Dutchmen failed to take their chances and Memphis Depay even missed a penalty in the dying minutes, falling to a disappointing defeat.

Finland vs Bosnia & Herzegovina: Barcelona’s Miralem Pjanic started and played the full 90 minutes for his side. In the 55th minute, the midfielder’s penalty was saved by Finland goalkeeper Jesse Joronen, but Pjanic was quick to capitalise on the rebound to give Bosnia the lead.

The match ended in a 2-2 draw however, after Teemu Pukki’s brace put Finland ahead before Miroslav Stevanovic’s late equaliser. Meaning that, after the first round of matches in Group D, four out of the five teams are sitting on one point.

France vs Ukraine: The reigning World Champions were held to a draw by Andriy Shevchenko’s Ukraine side. Antoine Griezmann however, starred as he scored France’s only goal of the night. His strike however, was cancelled out by Presnel Kimpembe’s own goal leading to a 1-1 draw at full-time.

Ousmane Dembele, who made the French squad for the first time since November 2018, started on the bench and came on to replace Kylian Mbappe in the 63rd minute. Clement Lenglet was also among the substitutes but did not make an appearance.

Spain’s U21 side also got their Under-21 Euros campaign underway with a convincing 3-0 win over Slovenia. However, Barcelona starlets Riqui Puig and Oscar Mingueza were both on the bench and did not make an appearance for Spain’s group stage opener.