UEFA Euro 2024 will take place next summer and the road to qualifying for that tournament continues this week with the latest international break. As clubs across the continent hit the pause button on their domestic leagues, plenty of countries will be hoping to edge closer to the finals. Today, we’ll be taking a look at what should be a fun encounter between Ireland and Greece.
Turkey Form GuideIn the last 16 World Cups, Turkey have only qualified for the final tournament once - finishing in third place. In the Euros, however, they tend to have a bit more luck, having qualified for three of the last four editions. They did only manage to reach the group stage in the last two but at the very least, there’s a clear direction for them as a squad, especially with one of the most intimidating fanbases in world football.
Turkey beat Armenia in March but just three days later, they were beaten 2-0 at home by Croatia. They proceeded to defeat Latvia and Wales in qualification, draw with Armenia and suffer a surprising 4-2 defeat against Japan in an electric friendly.
Latvia Form GuideLatvia are the kind of team that can pull a surprise result out of nowhere from time to time. However, their lack of consistency and overall quality continue to harm them. This is the first chance they have to really test themselves in this group and although it’ll be difficult, the spirit of their Euro 2004 exploits could be enough for them to make a bit of noise this year.
In terms of qualifying, Latvia have done well to have some close games so far in 2023 - but it hasn’t led to any kind of success in their results. They’ve been beaten by Wales x2, Croatia, Armenia and Turkey, but they did only lose by one goal in three of those outings.
Match PredictionLatvia, as a national team, are fighters - and they’re going to scratch and claw from the first minute until the very last in this one. They can compete for the first hour or so, in our books, but they’ll eventually fade down the stretch, leading to a Turkey win.
