International Reds: Manchester United stars wrap up Euro 2020 qualifying

Manchester United’s biggest stars have recently been strutting their stuff on the international stage as the Premier League takes its last break before the festive schedule kicks into place. Here’s a quick overview of how our international reds have been getting on.

Thirteen United players were selected for their national squads, however, both Scott McTominay and Marcos Rojo had to withdraw from the Scottish and Argentinian camps respectively due to injuries they picked up prior to the break.

England and the Republic of Ireland kicked things off on Thursday night with up to four United stars potentially in action.

Both Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford started England’s 1000th international match against Montenegro with the Three Lions winning it 7-0. The two United men were involved in the fourth goal of the night, as Maguire’s header was parried by the keeper, only for Rashford to lash in the rebound.

, who is on loan at Sheffield United, had to settle for a place on the bench. However, Irish keeper

Kiaran O’Hara

made is first international start in the Republic’s 3-1 friendly win over New Zealand. O’Hara was substituted in the 66th minute.

David de Gea was a spectator on Friday night as Spain thrashed Malta 7-0, whereas Victor Lindelof kept a clean sheet for Sweden in their 2-0 win over Romania. As a result, both nations qualified for Euro 2020, first and second respectively in Group F.

Ryan Giggs’ Wales side was in action on Saturday and ensured they would still be in contention to qualify for Euro 2020 in the last round of matches after they defeated Azerbaijan 2-0. Daniel James played a major role in opening the scoring in the match, cutting inside onto his left foot and unleashing a shot onto the crossbar, only for the rebound to be tapped home. Dylan Levitt did not feature.

England wrapped up the weekend and their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign in style, defeating Kosovo 4-0 on Sunday evening. Maguire once again played the whole 90 minutes, whereas Rashford made an impact off the bench in the second half by injecting some pace into the game. The United striker also netted the third goal of the evening, scoring his ninth goal in 10 games for club and country.

None of United’s three keepers featured for the remainder of the international fixtures, with Henderson, O’Hara and De Gea all having to settle for places on the bench, as did Lindelof, who sat out of Sweden’s last qualifying match, a 3-0 win against the Faroe Islands.

James will be representing Manchester United at next summer’s Euro 2020 tournament after Wales secured the second spot in Group E of qualifying today. James played the full 90 minutes as Wales defeated Hungary 2-0 – thanks to goals from former Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey. Dylan Levitt made the bench for Wales but did not make an appearance on the pitch.

United’s young stars have also been in action over the past week with Mason Greenwood, Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong representing their respective countries.

Greenwood and Chong locked horns today as England under-21s met Netherlands under-21s today. Both of the United players played in the match with the Netherlands winning the match 2-1 – Greenwood scored his first international goal in the process but it wasn’t enough to rescue a point.

And finally, Gomes showed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer why he should be considered for the first team at Old Trafford with a hat-trick of assists for England’s under-20s against Portugal last Friday.