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Iceland national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Jun 17, 2023 at 7.45pm UK
Laugardalsvollur
Slovakia national football team

Iceland
1 - 2
Slovakia

Finnbogason (41' pen.)
Magnusson (67')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Kucka (27'), Suslov (69')
Pekarik (26')

Preview: Iceland vs. Slovakia - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Euro Champ Qualifying clash between Iceland and Slovakia, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Two teams that will have their eyes on a top-two finish in Group J will lock horns in a Euro 2024 qualification fixture on Saturday, with Iceland welcoming Slovakia.

Iceland are currently fourth in the section, picking up three points from their opening two matches, while Slovakia are second, boasting four points from their first two games.


Match preview

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

Iceland made a disappointing start to their Group J campaign, suffering a 3-0 loss to Bosnia-Herzegovina, but they bounced back in excellent fashion three days later by thumping Liechtenstein 7-0.

There has since been a change at the helm, with Age Hareide now in charge of the national side, and the 69-year-old will be bidding to make the perfect start to his time with Our Boys on Saturday.

Iceland have back-to-back home games against Slovakia and Portugal during this break, and these are the type of matches that they will need to pick up points in if a top-two finish is to be a possibility.

The national side famously played at the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2016, reaching the quarter-finals of the latter, but they did not manage to secure a position at Euro 2020.

Iceland have not beaten Slovakia since March 2008, although the two teams have only locked horns twice since then, with Slovakia running out 3-1 winners in their last meeting - a friendly in November 2015.

Slovakia's Robert Mak celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on March 26, 2023© Reuters

Portugal are undoubtedly the favourites when it comes to topping Group J, but Slovakia will be expecting to make a strong push for second, which is the position that they occupy at this early stage.

The Falcons opened their qualification campaign with a goalless draw against Luxembourg on March 23, but they did return to winning ways three days later by beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0.

Slovakia made the last-16 stage of Euro 2016 before going out in the group stage of Euro 2020, and they are aiming to qualify for the finals of a European Championship for the third time in a row.

The national side were not present at the 2022 World Cup, though, with their last appearance in the finals of that competition coming in 2010, when they reached the round of 16.

Francesco Calzona's side will bring a five-game unbeaten run into this match, with their last competitive defeat proving to be against Azerbaijan in the UEFA Nations League last September.

Iceland Euro Champ Qualifying form:


Iceland form (all competitions):


Slovakia Euro Champ Qualifying form:


Slovakia form (all competitions):



Team News

Juraj Kucka in action for Slovakia in June 2021© Reuters

Despite the change of manager, Iceland's XI is expected to be close to the one that took to the field for the first whistle of the 7-0 success against Liechtenstein last time out.

Aaron Gunnarsson scored twice from central defence, and the captain could again line up in that area of the field for this match, while Burnley's Johann Berg Gudmundsson will also be named in the starting side.

There is a lack of genuine centre-forwards in the squad, but one of those will start, with Alfred Finnbogason set to lead the line, and he could potentially be joined by Hakon Arnar Haraldsson.

Slovakia, meanwhile, will have plenty of familiar faces in their side, with the likes of Martin Dubravka, Peter Pekarik, Ondrej Duda and Robert Mak set to start once again.

Mak could play in a front three with Robert Polievka and Lukas Haraslin, although there are a number of other options in the final third of the field.

Juraj Kucka is the captain and will start in midfield, while Norbert Gyomber and Denis Vavro are expected to be the two central defenders for the home side.


Iceland possible starting lineup:
Runarsson; Palsson, A Gunnarsson, Magnusson, Gretarsson; A Sigurdsson, Gudmundsson, Traustason, Porsteinsson; Finnbogason, Haraldsson

Slovakia possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Pekarik, Gyomber, Vavro, Hancko; Kucka, Lobotka, Duda; Mak, Polievka, Haraslin


SM words green background

We say: Iceland 1-2 Slovakia

This has all of the makings of a very interesting match, and we are expecting Saturday's contest to be close in terms of the final scoreline. It would not be a surprise to see Iceland pick up a positive result, but we believe that Slovakia will just shade it to collect a hugely important three points.



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: Iceland vs Slovakia

Iceland
33.3%
Draw
14.4%
Slovakia
52.2%
90
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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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