RPL players on international duty: Yazici's Turkey and Kuchta's Czech Republic knocked out of 2022 World Cup playoffs

On 24 March, RPL players represented their national teams in friendly matches, 2022 World Cup qualifiers and Nations League matches.

2022 World Cup qualifiers

Europe, play-off semifinals

Path B, Sweden 1-0 Czech Republic (AET) 

Lokomotiv striker Jan Kuchta played 83 minutes in his fifth match for the Czech national team, but couldn't prevent his team losing in extra time, conceding the only goal in the 110th minute. Sweden reached the playoff final on 29 March, where they will face Poland.

Path C, Portugal 3-1 Turkey

CSKA midfielder Yusuf Yazici came on in the 80th minute when the hosts were 2-1 up, but Turkey weren't able to hit back - Burak Yilmaz failed to score a penalty in the 85th minute - and lost their ticket to the World Cup. In the playoff final, which will be held on 29 March, Portugal will meet Northern Macedonia, who knocked out Italy 1-0.

South America

Colombia 3-0 Bolivia

Zenit midfielder Wilmar Barrios remained on the bench for Colombia and did not come again against Bolivia. Thanks to the victory, Colombia move on to 20 points ahead of the final round of regular qualifiers, one point behind fifth place - currently held by Peru - which grants passage to a play-off match against an Asian representative. On the night of 29-30 March, Colombia will meet Venezuela away, and Peru will host Paraguay.

Paraguay 3-1 Ecuador

Dynamo defender Fabian Balbuena played the full match for the hosts, but CSKA midfielder Jesus Medina spent the game on the bench. Paraguay lost their chance to reach the World Cup back in February, while Ecuador, thanks to Peru's defeat by Uruguay, secured a direct ticket to the tournament in Qatar. Paraguay, after 17 matches, are eighth in the South American zone with 16 points.

UEFA Nations League

League C, relegation play-off

Moldova 1-2 Kazakhstan

Three RPL players played the first Nations League play-off match against Moldova for  Kazakhstan, with all playing 90 minutes: Nuraly Alip from Zenit, Marat Bystrov from Akhmat and Baktiyor Zaynutdinov from CSKA. Kazakhstan, 1-0 down after the first half, earned a valuable win in Chisinau, and Zaynutdinov participated in the decisive attack, as his shot led to Vyacheslav Posmak's own goal.

The return game will take place on 29 March in Nur-Sultan. The aggregate winners will remain in League C, and the losers will drop into League D for the next Nations League campaign in the 2022/23 season.

Friendly matches

Armenia 1-0 Montenegro

Rostov midfielder Khoren Bayramyan and Krasnodar midfielder Eduard Spertsyan started the match in Yerevan for the hosts. Bayramyan was substituted in the 59th minute, while Spertsyan played the whole match. On 29 March, Armenia will play a friendly match in Oslo against Norway.

Hungary 0-1 Serbia

Nizhny Novgorod defender Akos Keckes played his fifth match for Hungary,starting the game in Budapest on the bench before coming on in the 80th minute. Hungary will play another match during the international break on 29 March in Belfast against Northern Ireland.

Scotland 1-1 Poland

Dynamo midfielder Sebastian Szymanski came off the bench for his first Poland appearance since March 2021 in the 61st minute for Grzegorz Krychowiak. Poland conceded in the 68th minute, but equalized in added time thanks to Krzysztof Piontek's penalty kick. On 29 March, Poland will play at home in the decisive play-off match for the 2022 World Cup against Sweden.

Photo: Turkish Football Federation