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Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Mar 23, 2023 at 7.45pm UK
 
Iceland national football team

Bosnia H'vina
3 - 0
Iceland

Krunic (14', 40'), Dedic (63')
Tahirovic (45+4'), Dedic (64')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Preview: Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Iceland - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Thursday's Euro Champ Qualifying clash between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland will kick off their Euro 2024 qualifying campaigns when they face off in Zenica on Thursday evening.

With Portugal favoured to top Group J – and Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Slovakia also in the group – Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland will both be eager to start qualification on a positive note.


Match preview

Edin Dzeko in action for Bosnia-Herzegovina on September 4, 2020© Reuters

Despite overseeing Nations League promotion last year, Ivaylo Petev was relieved of his duties as Bosnia-Herzegovina head coach in December, with Faruk Hadzibegic coming in as his successor.

Tasked with getting the Dragons to their first-ever European Championship, Hadzibegic will be expected to hit the ground running on Thursday, having replaced a popular – and successful – figure in Petev.

Indeed, Petev guided Bosnia-Herzegovina through an impressive Nations League campaign last year, suffering a solitary defeat in six matches to finish above Finland, Montenegro and Romania.

It is worth noting, however, that Bosnia-Herzegovina failed to win any of their away games during that campaign, recording 1-1 draws in Finland and Montenegro before suffering a 4-1 thrashing in Romania last time out.

That said, the Dragons scored five goals and kept two clean sheets across three home victories to secure promotion, so they will be confident of picking up a positive result in Zenica.

Iceland's Birkir Bjarnason and teammates celebrate after the match on September 27, 2022© Reuters

Unlike most European nations, Iceland have already participated in a couple of friendlies this year, drawing 1-1 with Estonia before losing 2-1 to Sweden in January.

On top of that, Arnar Vidarsson's men took part in the Baltic Cup back in November, but they did not cover themselves in glory against lower-ranked nations, despite winning the tournament as guests.

After being held to a goalless draw by Lithuania, Iceland failed to prevent a 1-1 draw with Lativa in the final, with Strakarnir okkar requiring a penalty shootout in order to triumph.

Iceland have now failed to win any of their previous seven matches inside 90 minutes, recording four draws and three losses since claiming a narrow 1-0 victory over Venezuela back in September.

When you look at the bigger picture, Iceland have managed to win just two of their past 18 games across all competitions, with three victories coming in their previous 24 outings.

Bosnia-Herzegovina form (all competitions):
  • D
  • W
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • L

Iceland form (all competitions):
  • L
  • L
  • D
  • D
  • D
  • L


Team News

Bosnia-Herzegovina's Sead Kolasinac is taken off injured in November 2021© Reuters

Faruk Hadzibegic could hand an international debut to Benjamin Tahirovic on Thursday, as the new Bosnia-Herzegovina boss has included the 20-year-old Roma midfielder in his first squad.

Having played a pivotal role in St Pauli's eight-game winning streak in the German second tier, goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj is expected to start ahead of the more experienced Ibrahim Sehic.

Veteran striker Edin Dzeko has netted 64 goals in 126 for Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the country's all-time leading scorer will be hopeful of enhancing his record against Iceland.

As for the visitors, Arnar Vidarsson has named a relatively conservative squad, calling up stalwarts such as Aron Gunnarsson, Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Alfred Finnbogason, who have a combined age of 99.

That said, Copenhagen teenager Hakon Arnar Haraldsson can provide a breath of fresh air, as the versatile 19-year-old has bagged four goals and three assists in the Danish Superliga this season.

Given that only two players in Iceland's squad have scored more than five international goals, Vidarsson may have to rely on Andri Gudjohnsen and Saevar Atli Magnusson to come off the bench and make an attacking impact.

Bosnia-Herzegovina possible starting lineup:
Vaslij; Dedic, Kovacevic, Hadzikadunic, Ahmedhodzic, Kolasinac; Krunic, Cimirot, Gojak; Dzeko, Demirovic

Iceland possible starting lineup:
Runarsson; Sampsted, Gunnarsson, Palsson, Olafsson; Magnusson; Sigurdsson, Gudmundsson, Traustason, Haraldsson; Finnbogason


SM words green background

We say: Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 Iceland

Led by the evergreen Edin Dzeko, we expect Bosnia-Herzegovina to kick-start the Faruk Hadzibegic era with a comfortable home victory over Iceland, whose struggles at both ends of the pitch look set to continue.



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


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 2.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 2.5:data


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Game History

How you voted: Bosnia H'vina vs Iceland

Bosnia-Herzegovina
79.3%
Draw
10.7%
Iceland
10.0%
140
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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain870121
Q Scotland flag Scotland852117
3 Norway Norway832311
4 Georgia Georgia82248
5 Cyprus Cyprus80080

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France871022
Q Netherlands Netherlands860218
3 Greece Greece841313
4 Ireland Rep. Ireland82066
5 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar80080

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England862020
Q Italy Italy842214
3 Ukraine Ukraine842214
4 Macedonia N. Macedonia82248
5 Malta flag Malta80080

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Turkey Turkey852117
Q Croatia Croatia851216
3 Wales flag Wales833212
4 Armenia Armenia82248
5 Latvia Latvia81073

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Albania national flag Albania843115
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic843115
3 Poland Poland832311
4 Republic of Moldova Moldova824210
5 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands80262

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Belgium Belgium862020
Q Austria Austria861119
3 Sweden Sweden831410
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan82157
5 Estonia Estonia80171

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Hungary Hungary853018
Q Serbia Serbia842214
3 Montenegro Montenegro832311
4 Lithuania Lithuania81346
5 Bulgaria Bulgaria80444

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Denmark Denmark1071222
Q Slovenia Slovenia1071222
3 Finland Finland1060418
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan1060418
5 Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland103079
6 San Marino flag San Marino1000100

Group I

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania1064022
Q Switzerland Switzerland1045117
3 Israel Israel1043315
4 Belarus Belarus1033412
5 Kosovo flag Kosovo1025311
6 Andorra flag Andorra100282

Group J

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal10100030
Q Slovakia Slovakia1071222
3 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg1052317
4 Iceland Iceland1031610
5 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina103079
6 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein1000100


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