Iceland-Luxembourg is a match valid for the seventh day of Group J of Euro 2024 qualifiers and is played Friday at 8:45 p.m.: predictions.
The second defeat they suffered against Portugal was even heavier than the first: a rude awakening for a Luxembourg that, after scoring three wins in a row against Liechtenstein, Bosnia and Iceland, was daydreaming. Instead, in Algarve, a month ago, Luc Holtz’s men experienced a nightmare night, conceding no fewer than nine goals in the match against the Lusitanians: 15 in total if we also consider last March’s match.
The chances of qualification are in any case still intact for the selection of the Grand Duchy, which has made giant strides in recent years: until recently, in fact, it would have been unthinkable to see Luxembourg fighting until the end for qualification to a final stage of an international review. With Portugal practically already having their pass to Germany 2024 in their pocket, the Luxembourgers have only to try to undermine Slovakia, which at the moment has 3 points more and on this day will be the guest of Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates, anxious to close the file.
Holtz’s selection will therefore play it all in remote Iceland, already defeated 3-1 a month ago: a historic result for Martins Pereira and his teammates.
Iceland fans
The Scandinavians have only six points, seven fewer than Slovakia, and are now out of the running. Two wins against Liechtenstein (0-7) and Bosnia, beaten 1-0 in the last match played, are not enough for them to think about getting back on track. The representative team led by experienced Norwegian coach Age Hareide, however, has a duty to close in the best possible way and especially to “avenge” the humiliating defeat of last September. In attack, the selector should once again put his faith in Finnbogason, keeping Gudmundsson from Genoa, who is in great form in Serie A, on the bench.
The Prediction
Iceland is not the one of a few years ago, which was able to qualify for the 2016 European Championships and the 2018 World Cup. At home, however, they are never easy to play against: Slovakia and Portugal, who had Reykjavik beat them by just one goal, also know this well. In our opinion, Hareide’s men will manage to avoid defeat this time in a match in which Luxembourg should also find their way to goal.
The probable lineups of Iceland-Luxembourg
- ISLAND (4-4-2): Runarsson; Ingason, Palsson, Hermansson, Finnsson; Magnusson, Traustason, Gunnarsson, Thorsteinsson; Finnbogason, Haraldsson.
- LUSSEMBOURG (4-5-1): Moris; M. Martins, Mahmutovic, Chanot, Pinto; Sinani, Barreiro, C. Martins, Olesen, Sanches; Curci.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1
