Andi Zeqiri can set his sights on Qatar after a World Cup reprieve.
And he might find his German club pressing to retain his services beyond this season.
The on-loan Albion striker has been hailed as a role model by his boss at Augsburg.
Zeqiri was involved as Switzerland swept aside Bulgaria 4-0 on Monday to confirm their place in next November’s finals as group winners.
Their win was enough thanks to Italy only drawing 0-0 in Northern Ireland.
Zeqiri, the Seagulls frontman on loan for the season at Augsburg, went on after 79 minutes.
He was guilty of a bad miss late in the 1-1 draw with Italy on Friday which put those Qatar dreams in serious jeopardy.
The chance was overshadowed by Jorginho’s miss from the penalty spot for Italy just beforehand.
Zeqiri has scored two goals in the Bundesliga and has played the full 90 minutes in each of the last two fixtures as part of a pairing up front.
Just like Seagulls boss Graham Potter, Augsburg head coach Markus Weinzierl loves Zeqiri’s attitude, energy and work ethic.
An Argus contact close to Augsburg said: “Zeqiri hasn’t converted enough of the chances he has had.
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“But he fits in well with Weinzierl’s system. Zeqiri has a good mentality, is good for aggressive pressing.”
Weinzierl said: “We can’t expect him to score the goals alone in every game but he brings in what the others all have to do - to tear himself apart for the club and, in that, he is a role model for the others."
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