RPL players on international duty: Spajic’s Serbia reach World Cup, Claesson’s Sweden make the playoffs

On 14 November, 2022 World Cup qualifiers involving Russian Premier Liga players were held.

Europe

Group A

Portugal 1-2 Serbia

Krasnodar defender Uros Spajic came on for Serbia in the 65th minute with the score at 1-1 and helped his team not only beat Portugal, but also reach the World Cup. Before the match both teams had 17 points, but Alexander Mitrovic's goal in the 90th minute brought victory to the visitors.

Group B

Spain 1-0 Sweden

Krasnodar’s Swedish midfielder Viktor Claesson was named in the starting lineup and played the entire match. A win would have handed Sweden direct passage to the World Cup, but they lost by the narrowest of margins and took second place, five points behind Spain.

Group H

Slovenia 2-1 Cyprus

Slovenia’s CSKA defender Jaka Bijol played the entire match against Cyprus, which his team won. Slovenia finished the qualifiers in fourth place in the group with 14 points, and were edged out by Slovakia into third on tie-breakers.

Group J

Armenia 1-4 Germany

Two RPL players featured for Armenia against Germany; Krasnodar midfielder Eduard Spertsyan and Rostov’s Khoren Bayramyan. The Rostov man spent 69 minutes on the pitch and was replaced with his side 4-1 down, whereas the Krasnodar player completed the entire 90 minutes. Following the qualifiers, Armenia ended up on 12 points and finished fourth in the group.

Photo: Serbian Football Federation