Home / Football / Internationals News When are Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo playing? Spring 2026 international break fixtures for top stars The March international fixtures for Messi, Mbappe and more Written by Ben Miller Last Update: March 23, 2026 07:35:14 pm GMT 6 min read Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Lamine Yamal and Vinicius Junior are are among the major names to have been called up by their countries for the international fixtures in spring 2025. A host of leading players from around the world could feature during the latest round of games, with many nations continuing their build-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.Manchester Citys Gianluigi Donnarumma, Arsenals Riccardo Calafiori and Newcastles Sandro Tonali are also hoping to help Italy qualify through play-off matches at the end of March.101GreatGoals.com takes a look at the international schedule for a selection of players and their countries full squad lists.Table of Contents1 Lionel Messi: Argentina squad vs Mauritania, Zambia2 Lamine Yamal: Spain squad vs Serbia, Egypt3 Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele: France vs Brazil, Colombia4 Vinicius Junior: Brazil squad vs Senegal, Tunisia5 Italy World Cup play-off squad vs Northern Ireland6 Erling Haaland: Norway squad vs Netherlands, Switzerland7 Cristiano Ronaldo: Portugal squad vs Mexico, USA8 When does the 2026 FIFA World Cup start?Lionel Messi: Argentina squad vs Mauritania, ZambiaMessis team play two friendlies at home.vs Mauritania: Friday, March 27, 23:15 GMT (18:15 ET / 15:15 PT)vs Zambia: Tuesday, March 31, 23:15 BST (18:15 ET / 15:15 PT)PositionPlayersGoalkeepersEmiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Geronimo Rulli (Marseille), Juan Musso (Atletico Madrid)DefendersNahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid), Gonzalo Montiel (River Plate), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Leonardo Balerdi (Marseille), Marcos Senesi (Bournemouth), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Tomas Palacios (Estudiantes de la Plata), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon), Gabriel Rojas (Racing Club), Marcos Acuna (River Plate), Valentin Barco (Strasbourg)MidfieldersLeandro Paredes (Boca Juniors), Maximo Perrone (Como), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea), Rodrigo De Paul (Inter Miami), Exequiel Palacios (Leverkusen), Nicolas Paz (Como)ForwardsLionel Messi (Inter Miami), Gianluca Prestianni (Benfica), Nicolas Gonzalez (Atletico Madrid), Giuliano Simeone (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Almada (Atletico Madrid), Jose Lopez (Palmeiras), Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid)Lamine Yamal: Spain squad vs Serbia, EgyptReigning EURO champions Spain continue their World Cup preparations with matches at home.vs Serbia: Friday, March 27, 20:00 GMT (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT)vs Egypt: Tuesday, March 31, 20:00 BST (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT)PositionPlayersGoalkeepersUnai Simon (Athletic Club), David Raya (Arsenal), Alex Remiro (Real Sociedad), Joan Garcia (Barcelona)DefendersPau Cubarsi (Barcelona), Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Club), Marc Cucurella (Chelsea), Alejandro Grimaldo (Leverkusen), Pedro Porro (Tottenham), Marcos Llorente (Atletico Madrid), Dean Huijsen (Real Madrid), Cristhian Mosquera (Arsenal)MidfieldersRodri (Manchester City), Martin Zubimendi (Arsenal), Pedri (Barcelona), Dani Olmo (Barcelona), Fermin Lopez (Barcelona), Carlos Soler (Real Sociedad), Pablo Fornals (Real Betis)ForwardsLamine Yamal (Barcelona), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Ferran Torres (Barcelona), Alex Baena (Atletico Madrid), Yeremy Pino (Crystal Palace), Borja Iglesias (Celta Vigo), Ander Barrenetxea (Real Sociedad), Victor Munoz (Osasuna)Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele: France vs Brazil, ColombiaFinalists in 2022, France face Brazil in Foxborough and and Colombia in Washington DC.vs Brazil: Thursday, March 26, 20:00 GMT (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT)vs Colombia: Sunday, March 29, 21:00 BST (16:00 ET / 13:00 PT)PositionPlayersGoalkeepersLucas Chevalier (Paris Saint-Germain), Mike Maignan (Milan), Brice Samba (Lens)DefendersLucas Digne (Aston Villa), Malo Gusto (Chelsea), Lucas Hernandez (PSG), Theo Hernandez (Al Hilal), Pierre Kalulu (Juventus), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)MidfieldersEduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), NGolo Kante (Fenerbahce), Manu Kone (Roma), Adrien Rabiot (Milan), Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Warren Zaire-Emery (PSG)ForwardsMaghnes Akliouche (Monaco), Rayan Cherki (Manchester City), Ousmane Dembele (PSG), Desire Doue (PSG), Hugo Ekitike (Liverpool), Randal Kolo Muani (Tottenham), Kylian Mbappe (Madrid), Michael Olise (Bayern), Marcus Thuram (Inter)Vinicius Junior: Brazil squad vs Senegal, TunisiaAfter that meeting with France, Brazil face Croatia in Orlandovs France: Thursday, March 26, 20:00 GMT (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT)vs Croatia: Wednesday, April 1, 01:00 BST (20:00 ET on Tuesday / 17:00 ET on Tuesday)PositionPlayersGoalkeepersHugo Souza (Corinthians), Bento (Al Nassr), Ederson (Fenerbahce)DefendersBremer (Juventus), Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal), Ibanez (Al Ahli), Leo Pereira (Flamengo), Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Sandro (Flamengo), Danilo (Flamengo), Douglas Santos (Zenit), Wesley (Roma)MidfieldersAndrey Santos (Chelsea), Casemiro (Manchester United), Danilo (Botafogo), Fabinho (Al Ittihad), Gabriel Sara (Galatasaray)ForwardsEndrick (Lyon), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Igor Thiago (Brentford), Joao Pedro (Chelsea), Luiz Henrique (Zenit), Matheus Cunha (Man United), Raphinha (Barcelona), Rayan (Bournemouth), Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)Italy World Cup play-off squad vs Northern IrelandSigned by City for �30 million earlier this season, Donnarumma will hope to help the Azzurri beat Northern Ireland in Bergamo.Should they win, Italy will advance to an away final against either Wales or Bosnia & Herzegovina in their attempt to avoid missing a third consecutive World Cup.Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario has been dropped from the squad and Liverpool forward Federico Chiesa withdrew through injury, replaced by Nicolo Cambiaghi.vs Northern Ireland: Thursday, March 26, 19:45 GMT (14:45 ET / 11:45 PT)vs Wales or Bosnia & Herzegovina: Tuesday, March 31, 19:45 BST (14:45 ET / 11:45 PT)PositionPlayersGoalkeepersGianluigi Donnarumma (Man City), Alex Meret (Napoli), Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Elia Caprile (Cagliari)DefendersAlessandro Bastoni (Inter), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Alessandro Buongiorno (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), Leonardo Spinazzola (Napoli), Marco Palestra (Cagliari), Diego Coppola (Paris FC)MidfieldersNicolo Barella (Inter), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Nicolo Pisilli (Roma)ForwardsMateo Retegui (Al-Qadsiah), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Giacomo Raspadori (Atalanta), Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Nicolo Cambiaghi (Bologna)Erling Haaland: Norway squad vs Netherlands, SwitzerlandAfter firing Norway to their fourth World Cup qualification, Premier League top scorer Erling Haaland could feature when his nation play friendlies away to the Netherlands and at home to Switzerland.vs Netherlands: Friday, March 27, 19:45 GMT / 14:45 ET / 11:45 PTvs Switzerland: Tuesday, March 31, 17:00 BST (12:00 ET / 09:00 PT)PositionPlayersGoalkeepersOrjan Nyland (Sevilla), Mathias Dyngeland (Brann), Sander Tangvik (Rosenborg), Egil Selvik (Watford)DefendersJulian Ryerson (Dortmund), Kristoffer Ajer (Brentford), Leo Ostigard (Genoa), David Moller Wolfe (Wolves), Fredrik Andre Bjorkan (Bodo/Glimt), Marcus Holmgren Pedersen (Torino), Torbjorn Heggem (Bologna), Andreas Hanche-Olsen (Mainz), Eivind Helland (Bologna)MidfieldersMartin Odegaard (Arsenal), Sander Berge (Fulham), Patrick Berg (Bodo/Glimt), Morten Thorsby (Cremonese), Kristian Thorstvedt (Sassuolo), Sverre Nypan (Manchester City), Felix Horn Myhre (Brann), Antonio Nusa (Leipzig), Oscar Bobb (Fulham), Thelo Aasgaard (Rangers), Aron Donnum (Toulouse), Kristian Arnstad (Aarhus)ForwardsErling Haaland (Man City), Alexander Sorloth (Atletico Madrid), Jorgen Strand Larsen (Crystal Palace), Andreas Schjelderup (Benfica)Cristiano Ronaldo: Portugal squad vs Mexico, USAPortugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has a hamstring injury and will miss their game in Mexico and against the USA in Atlanta.The forward shared a positive update on his rehabilitation on social media. The earliest he could next play is for club side Al-Nassr at home to Al-Najma on Friday, April 3 or away to Al-Akhdoud on Saturday, April 11.vs Mexico: Sunday, March 29, 02:00 BST (21:00 ET on Saturday / 18:00 PT on Saturday)vs USA: Wednesday, April 1, 00:00 BST / 19:00 ET on Tuesday / 16:00 PT on Tuesday)PositionPlayersGoalkeepersDiogo Costa (Porto), Jose Sa (Wolves), Rui Silva (Sporting)DefendersMatheus Nunes (Manchester City), Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), Joao Cancelo (Barcelona), Nuno Mendes (PSG), Goncalo Inacio (Sporting), Renato Veiga (Villarreal), Antonio Silva (Benfica), Tomas Araujo (Benfica)MidfieldersRuben Neves (Al Hilal), Samu Costa (Mallorca), Mateus Fernandes (West Ham), Joao Neves (PSG), Vitinha (PSG), Bruno Fernandes (Man United)ForwardsPaulinho (Toluca), Ricardo Horta (Braga), Pedro Goncalves (Sporting), Joao Felix (Al Nassr), Francisco Trincao (Sporting), Francisco Conceicao (Juventus), Pedro Neto (Chelsea), Goncalo Guedes (Real Sociedad), Goncalo Ramos (PSG)When does the 2026 FIFA World Cup start?The World Cup starts on Thursday, June 11 when Mexico encounter South Africa in Mexico City (20:00 BST / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT).You can find the full tournament schedule on FIFAs site. Topics: Argentina National Football Team Brazil National Football Team Cristiano Ronaldo Egypt national football team Erling Haaland FIFA World Cup France National Football Team Gianluigi Donnarumma Italy National Football Team Kylian Mbapp Lamine Yamal Lionel Messi Mohamed Salah Netherlands National Football Team Norway National Football Team Ousmane Dembele Portugal National Football Team Spain National Football Team Vinicius Junior World Cup 2026 Follow us: Ben Miller Ben has more than 10 years' experience in sports journalism, covering two EURO tournaments, European club competitions, the Premier League, EFL and WSL and a variety of other major sporting events. Read more from Ben Miller
