Following a month of domestic action across the continent to kickstart the new season, it’s time for the first international break of the campaign. It’s full steam ahead to UEFA Euro 2024 next summer but until then, we have to figure out who will be there. Today, we’ll be taking a look at this week’s qualifier between Kazakhstan and Northern Ireland.
Israel Form GuideIsrael have qualified for the World Cup on one occasion, and they’ve never qualified for the European Championships. The interesting part about it is that they often seem to be in the mix in qualifying, but more often than not, they lose a game they should win or they just fall away in the final few games. Moving forward, they need to work on their development if they’re going to get back to where they once were.
An away day to take on Romania is never going to serve as an easy night at the office and it was certainly a gritty affair when Israel went toe to toe with the hosts. They did fairly well, though, earning a point in a 1-1 draw to keep their campaign going at a steady pace.
Belarus Form GuideAs an independent nation, Belarus have never been able to qualify for a major international tournament - but with this group not exactly being the most stacked of the bunch, they’ll believe that there’s a chance they could make some noise. They are a gritty, physical outfit that is attempting to add some flair into proceedings, and we’re excited to see the end results.
If Belarus were serious about their push for qualification, then they would’ve gone in there against Andorra and put on a strong, confident display - but they didn’t. Instead, they fell to a 0-0 draw, and they didn’t really deserve a whole lot more than that.
Match PredictionThis is the kind of setup game that should have Israel fans salivating but when you really analyse how both teams have been performing, it suddenly becomes far more even than you could imagine. It’s going to be a tight, tense affair, and we ultimately believe the result will be a draw.