Internationals: Mixed fortunes for Premier League forwards

The Premier League’s top two scorers, Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak, replicated their fine club form for their countries in this season’s opening round of international fixtures.

Haaland — who leads the race for the 2026/27 Coca-Cola Golden Boot with five goals for Manchester City — bagged a brace in Norway’s 3-2 UEFA Nations League victory over Denmark, with Fulham’s Oscar Bobb also on target.

From one end to the other ⚡️🇳🇴 #NationsLeague https://t.co/UKlcIVLrBe

The Man City striker has now netted a staggering 64 goals in 56 games for his country, two more than legends Ronaldo (Brazil) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) both managed on the international stage.

Meanwhile, Isak — who sits just behind Haaland in the Golden Boot standings with four strikes for Liverpool — scored Sweden’s opener in their 2-1 victory over Romania, from an assist by Brighton & Hove Albion’s Yasin Ayari.

Alexander Isak 💛💙 https://t.co/N2dftd5vKh

Isak and Haaland are due to go head-to-head at club level when Liverpool host Man City on Sunday 11 October.

However, the Reds striker has picked up an injury and will miss Sweden's remaining three matches in this international break.

Sweden's other scorer against Romania was Arsenal's Viktor Gyokeres, who notched the winner by firing in the rebound after a shot from Tottenham Hotspur's Lucas Bergvall was saved.

It was a timely intervention from Gyokeres because the player who has been selected ahead of him for Arsenal this season — Kai Havertz — limped off in the 30th minute of Germany’s 1-1 draw with the Netherlands, for whom Liverpool's Cody Gakpo scored a second-half equaliser.

Havertz has now departed Germany’s camp and has returned to his club for treatment ahead of the Premier League champions' home match against Leeds United, the opening fixture of Matchweek 6 on 10 October. While there has be no official update from Arsenal yet, media reports in Germany suggest the forward could be sidelined for four weeks.

Five minutes after Havertz left the field, Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey was also forced off, with an apparent hamstring injury.

Brobbey, who scored a hat-trick in his previous outing for Sunderland at Man City and was voted Player of the Matchweek, has been replaced in the Dutch squad by Manchester United's Joshua Zirkzee.

With Brobbey facing a spell on the sidelines, his likely replacement in the Sunderland line-up, Wilson Isidor, at least found form in Haiti's 3-2 CONCACAF Nations League win over Trinidad and Tobago, registering two assists and then the winning goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

Elsewhere, Brighton midfielder Malick Yalcouye enjoyed a dream debut for Ivory Coast, scoring and winning a penalty in a 2-0 victory over Ghana in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

Meanwhile, AFC Bournemouth winger Rayan netted his second international goal for Brazil, with their stoppage-time equaliser in a friendly match against Australia.

There were also goals for Arsenal's Christos Tzolis (Greece), Man Utd's Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon), Newcastle United's Yoane Wissa (DR Congo), Aston Villa's Nicolas Jackson (Senegal) and Fulham's Shea Charles (Northern Ireland) in the opening round of international matches.