By the numbers: Biggest storylines from the international break
theScore picks out the best stats and facts to surface following an entertaining slate of fixtures during March's international break.
1 - The United States men's national team didn't include any Major League Soccer players in its lineup to face Grenada last Friday. It's the first time this has happened in a USMNT competitive match since the league began in 1996.
4 - Out-of-favor Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay bagged four goals during the international break (divided equally between games against Cyprus and Spain) to give Scotland a perfect record to begin its Euro 2024 qualification campaign. McTominay scored just once over his previous 37 Scotland appearances.
5 - Kylian Mbappe ranks fifth among France's all-time leading scorers with 38 goals, which is one more than Karim Benzema. Olivier Giroud tops the list with 53 goals. At 24, Mbappe has plenty of time to establish a huge scoring record for Les Bleus.
7 - The USMNT scored seven goals in a match played outside its homeland for the first time in the program's history. Ricardo Pepi and Weston McKennie bagged braces and Alejandro Zendejas, Christian Pulisic, and Brenden Aaronson scored a goal apiece in last Friday's 7-1 rout of Grenada in the CONCACAF Nations League.
8 - Aged 21 years and 202 days, Bukayo Saka has scored eight goals for @England; only Dixie Dean (16), Jimmy Greaves (16), Wayne Rooney (12) and Michael Owen (10) have scored more goals for the Three Lions as of Saka's current age. Winger. pic.twitter.com/h2tB7WbTGi
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 26, 2023
15 - Since making his Belgium debut in August 2010, Kevin De Bruyne has assisted at least 15 more goals than any other international teammate over that span. He took his total to 46 with two assists in a 3-2 friendly win over Germany on Tuesday.
18 - Lionel Messi is the only player in Argentine national team history to score in 18 consecutive years. His first goal was in 2006.
22 - John McGinn has been involved in 22 goals (16 goals and six assists) during Steve Clarke's Scotland tenure. Lyndon Dykes is the second-most productive player during the manager's four years in charge with 10 goal involvements.
29 – Renato Steffen scored three goals in the first 29 minutes against Belarus – it’s the earliest hat-trick in the history of the Swiss national team. Furious. pic.twitter.com/3WBo1l7MGD
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) March 25, 2023
33% - After a run of nine victories in 11 meetings with Jamaica, Mexico has won just a third of its last six matches with the Reggae Boyz.
49 - Roberto Martinez wants Portugal to attack. In his first two matches at the helm, Portugal scored 10 goals from 49 attempts on Liechtenstein and Luxembourg's goals.
50 - Mohamed Salah became the seventh African player to score 50 or more goals in international football. The Egyptian superstar joined Zambia's Godfrey Chitalu, Malawi's Kinnah Phiri, compatriot Hossam Hassan, the Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba, Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o, and Ghana's Asamoah Gyan in the exclusive club.
52 - The Dutch were desperate to put things right after a 4-0 defeat in France to begin their Euro 2024 qualification campaign. Gibraltar conceded three of the 52 shots it faced from the Netherlands on Monday and couldn't respond with a single shot of its own.
The @WhoScored shot map for Netherlands-Gibraltar is almost gallery-worthy pic.twitter.com/9oDtBYpJkE
— Adam Hurrey (@FootballCliches) March 28, 2023
55 - Harry Kane is now England's all-time top scorer with 55 goals. He beat Wayne Rooney's record of 53 with a penalty against Italy in Naples before converting from close range during Ukraine's visit to Wembley. Almost a third of his England strikes (18) have come from the penalty spot.
76 - Antoine Griezmann hasn't missed any of France's last 76 games. The last time the attacker didn't feature for his country was when he was an unused substitute in a 3-2 friendly victory over England in June 2017.
103 - Canada captain Atiba Hutchinson extended his own record by earning his 103rd cap for the men's national team in a victory over Honduras on Tuesday. After the match, the iconic 40-year-old midfielder admitted he's "close" to retiring from international duty.
198 - Cristiano Ronaldo now holds the record for the most caps in men's international football. The 38-year-old surpassed Kuwait forward Bader Al-Mutawa's previous high of 196 against Liechtenstein last Thursday and then lifted his tally to 198 in Sunday's trip to Luxembourg.
803 - Messi is now on 803 career goals in professional football after delivering a stunning free-kick against Panama and a hat-trick versus Curacao over the last week. His treble in the latter gave him 102 markers for Argentina.
#ARG 🇦🇷 2 - 🇵🇦 0 #PAN | 43 ST | Leo la soltó y la gente lo gritó, de tanto intentar se hizo realidad.
— Televisión Pública (@TV_Publica) March 24, 2023
Mirá el partido EN VIVO en https://t.co/fnEKkuadQ9 #SomosMundiales pic.twitter.com/nPKpl0drjZ
832 - Ronaldo, who is almost two-and-a-half years older than Messi, is the highest scorer in the history of men's competitive football with 832 goals.
1961 - England's 2-1 defeat of Italy marked its first victory on Italian soil since 1961. That was the same year that John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th president of the United States and Tottenham Hotspur won their last top-flight title.
1984 - Scotland's 2-0 victory over Spain on Tuesday marked its first triumph over the Iberian nation since November 1984. It was also the first time Spain lost a match by a margin of two or more goals since a 2-0 setback to Sweden in October 2006.
HEADLINES
- Canada beats USMNT on American soil for 1st time since 1957
- American Marsch proud to be Canada boss: 'I'd rather coach our team'
- Koeman: Bergwijn done with Dutch national team after Saudi move
- FIFPro, leagues claim FIFA abuses power in complaint over fixture congestion
- Craig Bellamy hired as Wales coach: 'Proudest moment of my career'