Iceland-Slovakia is a match on the third day of Group J of the Euro 2024 qualifiers and is played on Saturday at 20:45: predictions
Group J is Portugal’s, but apart from the heavily favoured Lusitanians there are several selections that are all equal and can at least aspire to second place.
CR7 and his team-mates are already on full points after the first two days of qualifying and are likely to be in a group of their own. Behind them, however, are Slovakia, Bosnia and Iceland, all within a single point: the race is wide open. Of the three, it is Iceland that, on paper, seems to have the least chance. The Scandinavians were dealt a severe lesson on the first day in Bosnia (3-0), while in the following match they were unleashed, but in front of them they had the modest Liechtenstein, overwhelmed 7-0. It was a victory that improved their ranking but could not be relied upon, given the value of the opponent. And it was not enough for former coach Arnar Vidarsson to save his bench. Last April he was replaced by Age Hareide, an experienced Danish coach who also led Denmark during his 40-year career.
His first test will be the direct clash with Slovakia, who have one point more (4) thanks to the success over Bosnia (2-0) and the white-net draw with Luxembourg.
Calzona
The Eastern European selection, on the other hand, is coached by an Italian coach, Francesco Calzona, a former collaborator of Maurizio Sarri at the time of Napoli and sponsored by Marek Hamsik. His task is to lead Slovakia to their third consecutive participation in the final phase of a European Championship after those of 2016 and 2020. A convincing debut, his, at the helm of a national team that came out of the last Nations League with broken bones, in which it missed out on promotion to the B League in a very accessible group, finishing only third. Skriniar is also among those called up, but the Inter defender – now betrothed to PSG – has just returned from injury and is unlikely to be on the pitch.
The Prediction
Iceland is a tough away match, but Slovakia have shown that they have something extra in their first outing against Bosnia. And they should be able to come out on top in a match that promises to be balanced and tight. Both should score.
Norway v Scotland line-ups
- ISLAND (4-3-3): Runarsson; Palsson, A Gunnarsson, Magnusson, Gretarsson; A Sigurdsson, Gudmundsson, Traustason, Porsteinsson; Finnbogason, Haraldsson.
- SLOVAKIA (3-4-2-1): Dubravka; Pekarik, Gyomber, Vavro, Hancko; Kucka, Lobotka, Duda; Mak, Polievka, Haraslin.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2