Lavia’s solitary previous international cap had come in March 2023, but his impressive start to the season with Chelsea saw him named in new Belgium manager Mark van Bommel’s first squad.

His return to the pitch for his country came off the bench for the final 15 minutes, as he helped Belgium see out a professional but deserved 2-0 win away against Italy, to make a victorious start to the new Nations League campaign. Mark Penders was not involved for Belgium, while Honest Ahanor – who will join Chelsea next year – was an unused substitute for Italy.

Lacroix featured at centre-back for the full 90 minutes as Zinedine Zidane made a winning start to life as France manager, beating Turkiye 1-0 in their own Nations League opener.

They were made to work hard for their victory though, with chances for both teams before and after Kylian Mbappe’s solitary goal, until a late red card for Turkiye helped Les Blues and Lacroix to hold on to their clean sheet and the three points.

Belgium and France will next face each other in the Nations League, in Brussels on Monday evening.

Acheampong was named in England Under-21s’ starting line-up alongside fellow Blue Jamie Gittens, as they took on Kazakhstan in qualifying for next year’s UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

In an end-to-end match the defender found the bottom corner with a sweet strike to put the Young Lions 2-1 up, having originally fallen behind, but the scores were levelled by half-time.

Acheampong played a big part in England retaking the lead after the break, as his cushioned header was volleyed in by his centre-back partner Max Alleyne, before they scored again in added time to secure a 4-2 win.

Another victory over Slovakia next Friday would officially book reigning champions England’s place at Euro 2027 with a game to spare.

Geovany Quenda was in the Portugal Under-21s side which suffered a narrow defeat away at Bulgaria. He forced an excellent save from the home goalkeeper on three occasions before Portugal took the lead, but was withdrawn in the 88th minute, shortly after Bulgaria had equalised.

That meant he was powerless to prevent his team conceding a decisive injury-time goal to lose 2-1. Defeat denied them qualification for the Under-21 Euros on the night, although a home win over Gibraltar on Wednesday would seal Portugal’s spot, regardless of other results.

Elsewhere, Freddy Bernal and Chizaram Ezenwata both started for England Under-19s - as did Reggie Walsh, who is spending this season on loan with Wigan Athletic - in their narrow 1-0 friendly win over the Republic of Ireland at St George's Park.