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.
Belgium Form GuideBelgium’s golden generation is slowly devolving and, in reality, they only have one (or two) tournaments left with their current crop of players. There aren’t really any more excuses that can be thrown in their direction and after messing up in a big way at the World Cup, they have to rebound - and they need some of their big names to be the ones who drag them through this mess.
The Red Devils knew that there was an uphill challenge ahead of them when they locked horns with Azerbaijan, largely as a result of their opponents’ recent growth. In the end, though, they edged out the win, coming out with a 1-0 win to ease any lingering fears.
Estonia Form GuideEstonia serve as one of Europe’s big ‘underdog’ nations, as they’ve never qualified for a major tournament. Still, that doesn’t mean they haven’t had their moments in qualifying, and it certainly doesn’t mean they can’t have some joy in the future. They are an exciting, unpredictable team to watch when they want to be, and it’s just a case of finding a system that keeps them consistent.
Estonia would’ve felt like they could put up a solid showing when playing host to Sweden, but instead, it was quite the opposite. They fell and they fell hard in this game, succumbing to a 5-0 demolition at the hands of the Swedes.
Match PredictionEstonia have to treat this like a one-off playoff game if they’re going to have any hope of causing Belgium problems. The hosts are just far superior in pretty much every area we can think of, and although we love an upset as much as the next chap, we’re going to back a Belgium win here.
