The first international break of 2025 sees a club football break for almost fifteen while the players trigger to play for their country.
For some, it is a distraction when we arrive at the end of the affairs of the European season and for others, it offers the possibility of refreshing and starting or continuing along the Slog to the qualification for the World Cup next summer in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Here, we take a look to see where the world superstars of the game will play:
Lionel Messi
Or in the case of Messi, not playing.
The Captain of Argentina had to connect with his national team before two major qualifications of the World Cup against Uruguay and Brazil.
However, it was not included in the team after suffering a leg injury by playing for Inter Miami against Atlanta United in MLS on Sunday.
The Albiceleste sits at the top of the Conmebol qualification table, five points ahead of Uruguay. They only require seven more points to secure their place in the final.
Messi will miss the following games:
March 21
Uruguay against Argentina (Montevideo) – 11:30 p.m.
March 26
Argentina against Brazil (Buenos Aires) – midnight UK Time
📋 This is the last list of teams called by Lionel Scaloni for the next games against Uruguay and Brazil during the 2026 World Cup qualifications! 📝 pic.twitter.com/j34xzalrdy
– Selección Argentina in English (@AfaseLECCIONEN) March 17, 2025
Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo continues to score goals at an impressive pace for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, even if part of the burden was relieved by the January signing of Jhon Duran of Aston Villa.
He also has 135 goals in 217 games for Portugal and hopes to add to this count when Portugal is playing in the quarter -final of the League of Nations against Denmark.
The winners will meet Italy or Germany in the semi-finals.
March 20
Denmark v Portugal (Copenhagen) – 7:45 p.m.
March 23
Portugal against Denmark (Lisbon) – 7:45 p.m.
Kylian Mbappe
The attacker seems to find his groove in Real Madrid after a difficult start and His splint in Villarreal on Saturday saw him go to 28 goals in an impressive first season at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Mbappe was recalled to the French team by Didier Deschamps after being excluded for the last two international breaks of 2024 due to concerns about its physical form.
The Blues are also in the League of Nations and face a two-legged semi-paw against Croatia.
March 20
Croatia against France (Split) – 7:45 p.m.
March 23
France against Croatia (Paris) – 7:45 p.m. hour in the United Kingdom
Mohamed Salah
Salah, and his club, Liverpool, endured a few miserable days. First of all, they were eliminated from the Champions League in the round of 16 by Paris Saint-Germain then Beaten by Newcastle in the EFL Cup final.
Salah was largely anonymous in the two games and it will be interesting to see his workload on this international break.
Egypt has already launched its World Cup qualification campaign and sit at the top of group A in the CAF Confederation with 10 points in three games.
March 21
Ethiopia against Egypt (Casablanca) – 9 p.m.
March 25
Egypt against Sierra Leone (Cairo) – 7 p.m.
Lamine Yamal
The adolescent superstar continues to sparkle for Barcelona and scored in the victory of the Champions League against Benfica on Tuesday evening and the incredible 4-2 victory of Sunday at Atletico Madrid, a match in which Barca followed 2-0 after 70 minutes.
He is likely to start in his right-wing role as Spain will face a quarter-final confrontation of the League of Nations with the Netherlands. The winner will play Croatia or France in the last four.
March 20
Netherlands against Spain (Rotterdam)-7:45 p.m.
March 23
Spain against the Netherlands (Valence)-7.45 times in the United Kingdom
