Belarus will continue their preparations for the return of UEFA Nations League football with a friendly against Russia in Minsk on Friday night.
Carlos Ferrer's side will enter the contest off the back of a goalless draw with Belarus, while Russia recorded a 4-0 victory over Russia in their last friendly.
Match preview
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Belarus have never qualified for the finals of a major tournament, and they will also not be present at this summer's European Championship.
Indeed, Ferrer's team finished fourth in their Euro 2024 qualification section, picking up 12 points from their 10 matches, which left them five points behind second-placed Switzerland.
Belarus actually ended their qualification section with back-to-back wins over Andorra and Kosovo, and they have since played two friendlies, losing 2-0 to Montenegro before drawing 0-0 with Malta last time out.
The national team will face Israel in another friendly on June 11, before returning to competitive action at the start of September against Bulgaria in the UEFA Nations League.
Belarus, who are winless in their last three non-competitive encounters, last faced Russia in an international friendly back in June 2015, with the latter running out 4-2 winners.
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Russia, meanwhile, were banned from qualification for Euro 2024 following the invasion of Ukraine, so the national team will not be present at this summer's European Championship.
Valery Karpin's side ended 2023 with an 8-0 success over Cuba, while they have played one friendly in 2024, beating Serbia 4-0 back in March.
Russia have played in each of the last five European Championship finals, famously reaching the semi-finals in 2008, but they were knocked out in the group stage in 2004, 2012, 2016 and 2020.
The national team are actually unbeaten in their last five matches, recording three wins in the process, but they have not played a competitive game since the end of 2021.
An experimental squad has been named for this friendly, with head coach Karpin expected to hand opportunities to a number of players to stake a claim for future selections.
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Team News
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Max Ebong is the leading goalscorer in the Belarus squad, finding the back of the net on five occasions in 37 caps, and the 24-year-old is set to be in the home side's XI for this contest.
There are four uncapped players in the squad, including German Barkovskiy, and the striker will be hopeful of receiving some minutes in the international friendly with Russia.
The most experienced member of the squad is 33-year-old defender Denis Polyakov, and he is expected to be in the Belarus XI on Friday night.
As for Russia, Atalanta BC's Aleksei Miranchuk is the standout name in their squad, and the 28-year-old is set to win his 45th cap in this contest.
There should also be a start for Real Sociedad attacker Arsen Zakharyan, while Fyodor Chalov is likely to be given the nod down the middle, as he bids to add to his one goal for his country.
There are four uncapped players in the current Russia squad, including Rostov attacker Kirill Shchetinin, who featured on three occasions for his country's Under-21 outfit.
Belarus possible starting lineup:
Ignatovich; Polyakov, Politevich, Pyachenin, Volkov; Ebong, Klimovich, Korzun, Bocherov; Antilevsky, Morozov
Russia possible starting lineup:
Safonov; Diveyev, Osipenko, Silyanov, Gorshkov; Kuzyayev, Anton Miranchuk, Glebov; Aleksei Miranchuk, Chalov, Zakharyan
We say: Belarus 1-1 Russia
It is difficult to know exactly what to expect from international friendlies at this stage of the year, especially as neither side are playing in the European Championship. It would not be a surprise to see a win either way here, but we believe that a tight match will finish all square.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
