Football matches were held on various continents under the aegis of FIFA on 17 and 18 November. Three FC Krasnodar representatives took part in those.
Team Sweden played an away game of the UEFA Nations League in Konya, Turkey against the local national team. Attacking midfielder Viktor Claesson made an early appearance and was subsequently substituted in the additional time of the second half. Viktor’s confident performance assisted his team in achieving a 1-0 win. The only goal was scored from a penalty kick by defender Andreas Granqvist, the ex-player of FC Krasnodar.
These three earned points allowed the Blågult to go up to the second position in the League B Group 2. The fate of the first place in the group, that allows one to get elevated to League A and compete for the UEFA Euro 2020 finals in the play-offs to be held in spring 2020, will be decided in Stockholm on 20 November in a clash of Sweden vs. Russia. A tie is sufficient for our compatriots, but Claesson and his national team will accept no outcome but victory.
Aleksandr Martynovich and his Belarus national team defeated San-Marino 2-0 away on 18 November. FC Krasnodar team captain played a full 90 minutes as a centre-back and contributed to his team’s clean sheet in every single game of the group stage.
With this win Team Belarus has officially announced they are the winner of the League D Group 2. The White Wings will compete in the League C in the next UEFA Nations League tournament. But before, in spring 2020 they will fight to take part in the UEFA Euro 2020 finals in a tournament of the four top national teams of League D where they will meet Georgia, a team that another FC Krasnodar player, midfielder Tornike Okriashvili, plays for.
As for defensive midfielder Charles Kaboré, he was very upset on Sunday, 18 November. The Burkina Faso national team lost 2-1 to Angola away in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification fixture. The Krasnodar player produced his usual big workload on a field of play throughout the 90 minutes of the game, but it did not save his team from defeat.
This loss made the chances of Burkina Faso qualifying for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations finals minimal. With only one game remaining Les Étalons are third in the standings with 7 points earned. Angola is second with nine points.