Four members of the Borussia team were in action for their national teams on Friday evening. Youssoufa Moukoko’s hat-trick led the Germany U21s a 3-2 win, while Marcel Sabitzer scored from the spot for Austria on his return from injury.

The Germany U21s, with Moukoko starting at striker and Karim Adeyemi on the right wing, initially fell behind in the 25th minute of their European Championship qualifier against Bulgaria, but Moukoko promptly scored an equaliser on the 40-minute mark. The second half began with a goal made in Dortmund: Adeyemi played a through ball behind the defence for Moukoko, who reached it on the byline and sent the ball into the centre, where, with the help of the Bulgarian goalkeeper, the ball ended up in the back of the net to give Germany the lead (49). Then, in the 69th minute, Borussia’s number 18 nodded home a cross from former Black & Yellow teammate Ansgar Knauff to complete his hat-trick. The hosts were able to pull one back in injury time to make it 3-2. Germany now lead Group D with six points. The match in Israel, originally scheduled for Tuesday (17 October), has been postponed due to the situation in the country.

The Austria national team fell behind 3-0 against Belgium in their EURO qualifying match in Group F, but a valiant comeback almost resulted in a point. In the 79th minute. Marcel Sabitzer replaced Patrick Wimmer in the 79th minute to make his first appearance since his muscle injury. After a handball by Belgium defender Arthur Theate, Sabitzer, five minutes after his substitution, sent an unstoppable penalty into the bottom-right corner past goalkeeper Matz Sels. The goal was the midfielder’s 15th for his country. The Austrian XI almost managed to find an equaliser, but in the end fell to a narrow 3-2 defeat at the hands of the “Red Devils”.  While the Belgians are now confirmed as participants in the European Championship, the Austrians still have to wait to secure their ticket. They have a second chance on Monday (18:00 CET) when they play Azerbaijan.

On Friday evening, the Netherlands and France met in Amsterdam in Group B of the European Championship qualifiers. Donyell Malen came on to play as a centre-forward in the 38th minute, replacing the injured Wout Weghorst of Hoffenheim. It looked like Malen had scored in the 55th minute, but his goal from Nathan Aké’s cross was chalked off due to an offside. In the end, “Les Bleus” were able to secure a 2-1 victory over the Oranje. The Dutch are under pressure after their second defeat and slipped to third place in the table behind Greece. A win is needed in Athens on Monday (20:45 CET) to draw level on points with Greece.

The next international matches with Black & Yellow involvement are scheduled for Saturday evening. The senior Germany team, featuring Mats Hummels, Julian Brandt, Niklas Süle and Niclas Füllkrug, face the USA (21:00 CET) in a friendly. Sebastien Haller is also in action for Ivory Coast, who are going head-to-head with Morocco in a friendly fixture (19:00 CET). (nh)