Injuries & Withdrawal Impact Luxembourg Squad for September FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

The Luxembourg Football Federation (FLF) has announced a 23-player national team squad for the upcoming FIFA 2026 World Cup qualification matches against Northern Ireland and Slovakia in September, both of which will take place in Luxembourg.

Head coach Jeff Strasser has called up 23 players, including goalkeepers Lucas Fox (FC Bocholt, Germany), Anthony Moris (Al-Khaleej, Saudi Arabia) and Tiago Pereira (Borussia Mönchengladbach, Germany). Among the defenders are Dirk Carlson (St Pölten, Austria), Eldin Dzogovic (Magdeburg, Germany), Laurent Jans (SK Beveren, Belgium), Seid Korac (Venezia, Italy), Enes Mahmutovic (NAC Breda, Netherlands), Marvin Martins (CSKA Sofia, Bulgaria), Mica Pinto (CSKA Sofia, Bulgaria), Vahid Selimovic (FC Hermannstadt, Romania) and Eric Veiga (Flamurtari, Albania).

Midfield options include Leandro Barreiro (Benfica, Portugal), Florian Bohnert (SC Bastia, France), Tomas Cruz (Benfica, Portugal), Christopher Martins (Spartak Moscow, Russia), Mathias Olesen (Greuther Fürth, Germany) and Olivier Thill (FK IMT Belgrade, Serbia). In attack, Strasser has selected Yvandro Borges Sanches (Heracles Almelo, Netherlands), Alessio Curci (Neftchi Baku, Azerbaijan), Aiman Dardari (FC Augsburg, Germany), Edvin Muratovic (Odra Opole, Poland) and Danel Sinani (St Pauli, Germany).

Speaking to Chronicle.lu about the current selection, Strasser confirmed: “Vincent and Sébastien Thill are injured. In addition, Brian Madjo declined the call-up, so these three players are missing at the moment. But in football, you rarely have everyone available. That is why we have a group of 20 outfield players plus three goalkeepers for this selection, and a wider pool of 35 to 40 players based abroad, as well as many good players in Luxembourg. It is up to us to make the right choices.”

In the absence of Gerson Rodrigues and with Brian Madjo having declined the call-up, the coach also highlighted the return of 28-year-old forward Edvin Muratovic, noting that his profile offers different attacking options to the squad.

On the upcoming fixtures, the coach added: “First of all, we prepare for the first game against Northern Ireland, which is a strong team with a style of play that is not the typical or old British style, but rather a mixture between physical and technical football, with very active players in the first line. We are prepared and will make a good match plan to bring our qualities onto the pitch and try to give them as many problems as we can. Then it will be football - a game where a lot of things can happen - and it is up to us to deliver our best performance for this first game.”

The coach acknowledged that with limited preparation time it will not be possible to implement everything immediately, but stressed the importance of maintaining continuity while gradually bringing his own ideas to the team.

Luxembourg will face Northern Ireland on Thursday 4 September 2025 and Slovakia on Sunday 7 September 2025, with both matches kicking off at 20:45 at Stade de Luxembourg.