European minnows Andorra welcome Belarus to the Estadi Nacional for a Euro 2024 qualifier in Group I on Saturday evening.

While the hosts sit bottom of the group after failing to win any of their first four matches, the visitors are in fourth place with three points on the board, five points behind the top two qualification spots.

Match preview

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After failing to pick up a single point in each of their first five European Championship qualification campaigns between 1998 and 2018, Andorra have certainly shown signs of improvement in their last two.

Koldo Alvarez's side claimed their first-ever Euros qualification win against Moldova in 2019 and accumulated four points in total in the 2020 qualifiers, and they have since picked up one point from four Euro 2024 qualifiers – playing out a goalless draw with Kosovo in March.

Since the beginning of 2022, Andorra have lost six of their last 13 internationals across all competitions – winning four and drawing the remaining three in the process – but four of those six defeats were by just a one-goal margin, including their last two in Euro 2024 qualifying against Switzerland and Israel in June – losing both by 2-1 scorelines.

Andorra, who are ranked 154th in the world by FIFA, will fancy their chances of scoring a record-extending fourth successive goal in qualifying on Saturday as they have found the net in three of their previous four meetings with Belarus, with a 2-0 win back in April 2000 their solitary success against the White Wings.

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Like Andorra, Belarus have never qualified for the European Championships and Georgy Kondratyev's men made a disappointing start to 2024 qualifying as they lost each of their opening three matches – a heavy 5-0 home loss to Switzerland was followed by 2-1 defeats against both Romania and Israel.

However, goals from Vladislav Morozov and Max Ebong secured a 2-1 victory against Kosovo in their most recent qualifier in June to provide the White Wings with a glimmer of hope of reaching the Finals in Germany.

Ranked 98th in the world by FIFA, Belarus can ill-afford any more slip-ups, though, if wish to secure a top-two spot in Group I, and they must quickly rectify their poor away form as they have failed to win any of their last 11 competitive games on the road – four of Belarus' final six qualifiers are away from home including Saturday's clash with Andorra.

Kondratyev's side, who thrashed Andorra 5-1 in their last meeting in June 2009, will remain fourth in Group I even if they win on Saturday, but claiming three points could move them to within a point of third-placed Israel, who they will face next Tuesday, if other results go their way.

Team News

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Andorra boss Alvarez is expected to name a similar side to the one that narrowly lost to both Israel and Switzerland three months ago, with a five-man defence set to be supported by four in midfield and a lone striker leading the line.

Forty-three-year-old defender and captain Ildefons Lima, who is the nation's most-capped player (135) and all-time record goalscorer (11), has predominantly earned his minutes as a substitute in recent matches and he will likely take his place on the bench once again this weekend, with Max Llovera, Joel Guillen and Albert Alavedra all set to continue in central defence.

Albert Rosas should retain his place up front ahead of Ricard Fernandez and Jordi Alaez, while Eric Vales, who earned two of his five caps in the last international break, could keep his place in centre-midfield alongside either Marcio Vieira or Marc Rebes.

As for Belarus, 20-year-old defenders Egor Parkhomenko and Leonardo Mascaro-Kapilevich have received their first senior call-up and could make their debut in some capacity on Saturday.

Ebong has scored in his last two international appearances and is expected to continue in an advanced midfield role in behind either Pavel Savitsky or Morozov up front.

Sergey Ignatovich appears to be Kondratyev's preferred goalkeeper and should earn his fifth cap this weekend, while Yury Kavalyow will be pushing to start in midfield after beginning as a substitute last time out.

Andorra possible starting lineup:
Alvarez; San Nicolas, Guillen, Llovera, Alavedra, Garcia; Alaez, Rebes, Vales, Cervos; Rosas

Belarus possible starting lineup:
Ignatovich; Bykov, Volkov, Polyakov, Pyachenin; Kavalyow, Kaplenko, Bakhar; Ebong; Morozov

We say: Andorra 1-2 Belarus

Considering the improvements made by Andorra in recent months, Alvarez and co will be quietly optimistic about claiming a positive result on Saturday. However, Belarus will still be considered as the favourites to come out on top and they should do enough to secure their first competitive away win in three years.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Oliver Thomas

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