On Thursday, Liverpool fielded four players on the international scene, and they had some really positive performances.
Among Liverpool’s international contingent on Thursday were Wataru Endo, Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, and Dominik Szoboszlai. The Reds’ players had a successful evening.
The Liverpool forward made headlines during Egypt’s 6-0 triumph over Djibouti, scoring four goals in a row to shatter the record and become his nation’s top scorer in World Cup qualifying. By achieving this, Salah eclipsed the record of 14 goals in 25 World Cup qualifying matches held by Mohamed Aboutreika.
Szoboszlai, meantime, assisted in Hungary’s first-ever 2-2 draw with Bulgaria. Hungary extended their winning streak in Group G and advanced to the Euro 2024 finals in Sofia with the Reds midfielder playing the entire ninety minutes. He also blasted in the delivery that set up the thrilling equalizer in the 97th minute, all in a commanding performance.
Hungary trailed into the latter minutes of the game as Bulgaria’s goals from Kiril Despodov and Spas Delev reversed their early advantage. Bulgaria had taken the lead in the tenth minute when Szoboszlai’s free kick was met by Martin Adam’s head.
But that was before late in the second half, during injury time, defender Alex Petkov put the ball in his own goal.
In another match, Jota began on the left side of a four-man midfield as Portugal won 2-0 against Liechtenstein behind goals from Joao Cancelo and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Liverpool forward, who has already scored eight goals for the Reds this season, set up Ronaldo’s opening goal when he finished with a weight-perfect pass that the Al Nassr front easily completed.
With the win, Portugal—now under the management of Roberto Martinez—became one of only two teams to have a perfect qualification record ahead of the European Championships in Germany the following summer.
At the Panasonic Stadium in Japan, Japan defeated Myanmar 5-0 while Endo was not utilized as a substitute. Takumi Minamino, a former Reds midfielder, recorded two assists in a strong performance for the Samurai Blue.
Luis Díaz scored a double in 4 minutes to turn Brazil around. His father, who was kidnapped for 12 days and was recently released, saw everything from the stands and could not contain her tears. Lucho dedicated the two goals to him. Tears, screams and almost fainted from emotion.
Nunez played brilliantly for Uruguay. The 24-year-old striker from the Liverpool club recorded three shots and scored one goal which confirmed Uruguay’s victory.