Two Sutton players were on international duty following the conclusion of the 2025/26 domestic season, getting in crucial minutes ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup in USA and Mexico, having failed to qualify for the tournament themselves.

Academy defender Jay Coombes received a major milestone in his brief career so far, being selected for Gibraltar’s senior squad for the first time ahead of their friendlies against British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands.

While he was unable to make his senior debut for Team 54, Scott Wiseman’s side secured their first wins since October 2024 against San Marino, sealing two comprehensive victories over the CONCACAF duo. First, goals from James Scanlon (2) and Leon Mason put the cherry on top of Johari Lacey’s early own goal to triumph 4-0 over British Virgin Islands – their largest ever victory – before coming back from an early scare against Cayman Islands to make it back-to-back wins for the first time in almost a decade – last doing so with UEFA Nations League triumphs over Armenia and Lichtenstein in October 2018.

Fast forward eight years, and Los Llanos bounced back from Christopher Reeves’ opener inside the first minute to seal a 4-1 win at the Europa Point Stadium, courtesy of goals from Scanlon, Dylan Borge, Julian Valarino and Tjay De Barr.

Photo Credit: Gibraltar FA

Over in Spain, Jermaine Francis played 78 minutes last month as Grenada concluded their training camp in Murcia with a 5-0 defeat against the Republic of Ireland.

The Sutton forward was selected as part of a strategic push to secure meaningful international opportunities that expose Grenadian players to high-level opposition, broadening the country’s football footprint beyond the Caribbean.

The Spice Boys, who are ranked 163rd in the world, took on an Ireland side who are ranked 114 places above them, affording the nation the chance to promote themselves to an international audience and test themselves against strong international opposition, in an attempt to continue improving within FIFA’s global ranking system.

However, Ireland’s quality certainly shone against a side largely made up of lower league players, including Kane Vincent-Young (Dag & Red), Kayden Harrack (Dag & Red), Parish Muirhead (Lewes), Myles Hippolyte (AFC Wimbledon), Ashley Charles (Bromley) and Lucas Akins (Mansfield Town), while the Boys in Green deployed a somewhat experimental squad consisting of a host of Championship players.

Ireland dominated a goalless first half, before shattering the deadlock after the interval as second half substitute Tom Cannon netted twice, while Jack Moylan enjoyed a landmark senior debut, claiming the match ball with a clinical second half hat-trick.

Francis was replaced by Raheem Raeburn with 12 minutes remaining with the score at 3-0, before Moylan completed his treble by scoring a four-minute brace to seal a comfortable victory for Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side.