Another international break is upon us and plenty of West Ham stars are off on their travels.
A multitude of Hammers players will be heading across the globe before returning to east London and beginning preparations for the Irons’ next clash against Sheffield United.
With World Cup qualifiers, UEFA Nations League and African Cup of Nations matches globally, David Moyes will have a vested interest in eight national teams across three continents.
Here’s a round-up of where the West Ham players will be and when they are likely to be in action…
Current on-field captain Declan Rice was named in the England squad for their friendly against the Republic of Ireland on Thursday prior to UEFA Nations League clashes with Belgium and Iceland. The first of those games sees the 21-year-old line up against the country for whom he won three caps before an acrimonious switch to England.
Backup Irons goalkeeper Darren Randolph will likely face Rice as he represents Ireland at Wembley before taking on Wales and Denmark in the Nations League.
Czech Republic international pair Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek are in action tonight as they face the tough task of heading to Germany for a friendly.
Two more Hammers will face off as Lukasz Fabianski and Andriy Yarmolenko meet when Poland face Ukraine in a friendly tonight before both countries turn to competitive matters over the ensuing days.
The longest journey belongs to centre-back Fabian Balbuena, who travels to South America to play for Paraguay to aid their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign with fixtures against Argentina and Bolivia, starting on Friday with Balbuena attempting to keep Lionel Messi at bay.
Said Benrahma and Sebastien Haller will join up with Algeria and the Ivory Coast for their respective Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. In fact, Benrahma could start his first match since joining the club on Friday as his nation hosts Zimbabwe.
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The international breaks have been a cause of much conjecture in recent weeks as the Premier League just gets into full stride before being brought to a standstill once again.
In the current climate and with injuries seemingly at an all-time high, it does come across as rather galling that the players are asked to travel worldwide before returning almost immediately to domestic action.
