The Euro XI: Finding joy in the international break, Spain's Lamine Yamal remains good, and why is World Cup qualifying so boring?

We all suspected the Neymar arc was coming. Here's Yamal, teenage superstar, supremely gifted, the world at his feet. But he likes to have fun. He enjoys life. And he lets us know all of these things on social media. Remind you of anyone? Lamine may yet flame out, but for now, he remains one of the best in the world - something he proved by bagging three (!!) assists for Spain in their battering of Turkey.

Last year, pretty much everyone at Arsenal got injured. So, Mikel Arteta decided to play a defensive midfielder as a No. 9. And Mikel Merino suprised a few, grabbing a fair share of goals down the stretch to keep the Gunners alive en route to another second-place finish. He probably won't be up there much for Arsenal this year, but he showed that he hasn't forgotten how to stick it in the net - bagging three in Spain's win. Not a bad showing.

What do you expect from Andorra as a footballing entity? The tiny nation state do a good job these days of basically just not getting battered. They show up, know they're going to lose, and take positives from a hard fought 2-0 loss to a far superior team.

And that's just what happened when they faced England. The Three Lions found it hard, scored two, and were pretty decent value for the result. But of course, the world can't have nice things, and Tuchel has been heavily criticized for the tepid margin of victory. Reeks of a World Cup semifinal loss.

Admit it: you forgot about Memphis. Of course you did. He may be only 31, but his career has nose dived since he joined Manchester United nearly a decade ago. He now plays for Brazilian side Corinthians, and remains a pretty important part of the Dutch national team, too - something he showed by bagging two and becoming his country's all-time top goalscorer as they edged Lichtenstein, 3-2. 

OK, sure, we get it: Florian Wirtz has struggled to start his Liverpool career. The ideas are there, the shapes are being seen, the angles are being formed. But that execution is yet to arrive. The Premier League is fast-paced, unforgiving and simply just harder to play in than the Bundesliga. 

Wirtz is learning that in real time - and it's rather interesting to take in. The good news, if you're of a Liverpool persuasion, is that he can still do some magical things with that right foot. His free kick this weekend - an absolute belter from 25 yards out - was certainly the moment of the matchday in Germany's 3-1 win. 

Roberto Martinez was a bit of a disaster as Belgium manager. The former Wigan boss was handed a Golden Generation (sound familiar, USMNT fans?) of talent, and did a pretty good job of throwing it all away. He antagonized his superstars, and through a mixture of bad luck and even worse management, saw Belgium's major tournament hopes fade.

That has been quickly forgotten now, though. Kevin De Bruyne is making sure of it, something he proved by scoring twice in a comfortable 6-0 win over Kazakhstan. 

So there was this thing for a while - Cristiano Ronaldo could not score from outside the box. It kind of became an inadvertent brand, this guy in his late 30s just letting rip from long range, and failing to find the net. Some found it funny. Ronaldo did not. And he is back to bashing them in from outside the box, doing things like this: 

We can all agree that Italy are going to win the World Cup, right? This is just what happens for these guys. They struggle for a few years, change the manager, tinker with the vibes, and then remember that they a proud footballing nation rife with talent and the kind of vibe to prepare them for major tournaments. They have now won three on the bounce, and thumped a very bad Estonia, 5-0. Be afraid, England. 

Liverpool fans have undiagnosed PTSD at this point. Here's how it goes - they either have, or are chasing, a really good footballer. That player then supposedly considers all of his options, and then signs for Real Madrid.

Many have pointed out that starting centerback Ibou Konate has less than a year left on his contract, has thus far refused to sign a new one, and is good pals with the French contingent at Madrid. Apparently Kylian Mbappe has been "joking with him" all week about signing for Madrid. Not funny, Kylian. Not funny at all. 

Croatia were so fun for so long because they had an average age of about 57, but ended up beating all of the kids. This was a team of pretty unathletic vets strolling through major tournaments, and making a lot of theoretically better teams look bad in the process. Eras come to an end, it seems, as Croatia juuuuust beat the 141st ranked Faroe Islands despite fielding something close to a full strength XI. Is the end near?

Of the 18 teams that have qualified for the 2026 World Cup, none are from Europe. That seems surprising, until you consider that UEFA basically jams in all of its qualifying matches into tiny windows in what can only be assumed is an attempt at ruining hamstrings

But look at the bigger picture here, and the big names are all either in there, or well on their way. England are four for four. France won their first. Portugal, Belgium and Spain all look pretty good. The only team in danger thus far is Germany - who have won one and lost one. The issue with a 48-team World Cup is that there aren't many surprises in qualifying. That might just continue here.