Kazakhstan play their first match in League B of the UEFA Nations League when they welcome Norway to Almaty on Friday.
The visitors arrive fresh at the start of a new tournament cycle hoping that the Nations League could provide a route to end their two-and-a-half-decade wait for an appearance at a major finals.
Match preview
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Stale Solbakken's Norway start the long road to the 2026 World Cup with their first ever clash against Kazakhstan, playing with the incentive of a possible playoff place that could come with performing well in this section.
With Austria and Slovenia also in Group B3, all four sides will fancy their chances of being competitive, but to do so, Norway must improve significantly on their recent competitive showings.
The Norwegian support will still be having flashbacks to the late collapse against Scotland in Euro 2024 qualifying, which ultimately cost them a place at the finals, as well as dropping two points in Georgia.
Had they not capitulated late in their previous Nations League campaign, they could have fallen back on the playoff route, but despite taking 10 points from their opening four, Norway lost their last two games to relinquish top spot to Serbia.
Those recent results only increase the pressure on Solbakken, and superstar players Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard, to perform over the next three months.
First of all, Solbakken will be looking to avoid defeat in back-to-back games for just the second time as Norway manager, after his side lost 3-1 to Denmark last time out.
Kazakhstan are unlikely to make it easy though, as they seek to continue their ascent on the international stage after a brilliant Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
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Six wins from 10 almost saw the Kazakhs qualify for a first major tournament since their independence, but they ended up finishing four points shy of the automatic qualifiers and dropped into the playoffs where they were heavily beaten by Greece.
That playoff place was secured by winning promotion from League C in 2022, as home and away wins over Slovakia helped them to top their section with 13 points, just weeks after surviving relegation to League D with wins over Moldova.
The man leading them into their first campaign in League B is Stanislav Cherchesov, the manager who coached Russia during their home World Cup in 2018, and took them agonisingly close to the semi-finals, before being beaten on penalties by Croatia.
Cherchesov's first aim will be to end a current four-game losing streak, as each fixture in 2024 has ended in defeat so far after friendly losses to Armenia and Azerbaijan in June.
Team News
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Only five of Kazakhstan's 26-man squad are not based domestically, and two of them are in neighbouring Russia, but many of the players in the side have been present during their recent rise.
One not based at home is Abat Aimbetov, who will be looking to continue his fine scoring form, after getting three goals in both the recent Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, and the last version of the Nations League.
Key man Bakhtiyor Zaynutdinov will likely play an important role, but he has not featured for Besiktas yet this season after only recently coming back from a summer-long injury.
Odegaard is set to captain the Norwegian side here, and provide support for the irrepressible Haaland, who has netted 31 in just 33 caps, and has scored seven Premier League goals after just three games this season, following back-to-back hat-tricks for Manchester City.
Haaland is likely to be partnered up top with Alexander Sorloth, who is the unsung Norwegian footballer at present, as his 23 La Liga goals at Villarreal last season earned him a move to Atletico Madrid.
Indeed, Norway's two main strikers currently sit top of the scoring charts in Europe's big five leagues throughout 2024 so far, with Haaland plundering 20 goals and Sorloth notching 18 - both more than any other player this calendar year.
Solbakken has seen Kristoffer Ajer, Fredrik Sjovold and Osame Sahraoui pull out of the side late with injury, joining Oscar Bobb, who suffered a serious injury on the eve of the season, on the sidelines.
Kazakhstan possible starting lineup:
Shatskiy; Kairov, Bystrov, Marochkin, Alip, Vorogovskiy; Chesnokov, Kuat, Zaynutdinov, Orazov; Aimbetov
Norway possible starting lineup:
Nyland; Ryerson, Hanche-Olsen, Ostigard, Pedersen; Odegaard, Berge, Thorsby; Sorloth, Haaland, Nusa
We say: Kazakhstan 1-2 Norway
Kazakhstan's recent rapid improvements have seen them rise to the second tier in the Nations League just two years after almost slipping into the fourth, so they cannot be underestimated in a close section.
Facing a dangerous side who gave many established nations a scare in Euro 2024 qualifying and being so far away from home means Norway cannot take this game lightly, but with the attacking quality at their disposal, Solbakken's side have the slight edge.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
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