Northern Ireland-Finland is a match from the second day of Euro 2024 qualifying Group H and is played on Sunday at 20:45: tv, predictions.
Finland failed to escape unscathed from Copenhagen’s Parken Stadion in their opening match against Denmark, but head coach Markku Kanerva and his men have very little to reproach themselves for. They held their own for some eighty minutes against a more talented and superior selection in almost every respect, defending in an orderly fashion and neutralising several goal chances.
Unfortunately for them, Atalanta’s young centre-forward Hojlund was on a roll, and with a stunning hat-trick he proved to be the added value for Kasper Hjulmand’s selection, who came out on top in the final thanks to two goals from the unstoppable Dea player. Useless for the result was the momentary equaliser by Groningen winger Oliver Antman. In any case, the defeat against the strongest team in the group – and one that is likely to finish in first place – had been taken into account. Finland, however, already finds itself in hot pursuit: Slovenia, one of the direct competitors for second place, won in Kazakhstan; Northern Ireland’s victory, on the other hand, was fairly predictable, as they had no problem imposing themselves on modest San Marino. In order to prevent the Slovenians from taking the lead, Kanerva and his team are almost obliged to come back from Belfast with three points, trying to break a winless streak that has been going on since September, when they got the better of Montenegro in the Nations League.
It’s already a potential play-off
On the other hand, the Northern Irish will attempt to dispel the Finland taboo, bearing in mind that they have lost all four of their last meetings with the Scandinavians between 2006 and 2015.
Magennis
Michael O’Neill’s national team is coming off a 2-0 win over San Marino. Nothing exceptional, considering the huge disparity in values between the two selections. If Northern Ireland are to have any chance of qualification, they can’t afford to slip up by playing in front of their home crowd. Northern Ireland have only won one of their four home matches in 2022, beating Kosovo 2-1 in the Nations League.
The Prediction
This has all the air of a potential in-or-out challenge. The one with the most pressure is Finland, already called upon to make up ground after the predictable defeat to Denmark on debut. It will be Kanerva’s men who will be in charge, but it will not be easy against a selection that usually has an edge at home and tends to be very solid. However, we expect both sides to find the path to goal on at least one occasion. A draw cannot be ruled out.
Northern Ireland-Finland matchday squad
- NORTHERN IRELAND (4-3-3): Peacock-Farrell; Ballard, Cathcart, Brown; Bradley, McNair, S. Charles, Saville, Lewis; Magennis, D. Charles.
- FINLAND (3-5-2): Hradecky; Alho, Vaisanen, Ivanov, Jensen; Lod, Kairinen, Kamara, Antman; Pohjanpalo, Pukki.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1
