MX23RW : Thursday, November 7 19:07:25| >> :120:4751:4751:
[monks data]
Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Mar 23, 2023 at 7.45pm UK
 
Iceland national football team

Bosnia H'vina
3 - 0
Iceland

Krunic (14', 40'), Dedic (63')
Tahirovic (45+4'), Dedic (64')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Preview: Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Iceland - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Thursday's Euro Champ Qualifying clash between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland will kick off their Euro 2024 qualifying campaigns when they face off in Zenica on Thursday evening.

With Portugal favoured to top Group J – and Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Slovakia also in the group – Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland will both be eager to start qualification on a positive note.


Match preview

Edin Dzeko in action for Bosnia-Herzegovina on September 4, 2020© Reuters

Despite overseeing Nations League promotion last year, Ivaylo Petev was relieved of his duties as Bosnia-Herzegovina head coach in December, with Faruk Hadzibegic coming in as his successor.

Tasked with getting the Dragons to their first-ever European Championship, Hadzibegic will be expected to hit the ground running on Thursday, having replaced a popular – and successful – figure in Petev.

Indeed, Petev guided Bosnia-Herzegovina through an impressive Nations League campaign last year, suffering a solitary defeat in six matches to finish above Finland, Montenegro and Romania.

It is worth noting, however, that Bosnia-Herzegovina failed to win any of their away games during that campaign, recording 1-1 draws in Finland and Montenegro before suffering a 4-1 thrashing in Romania last time out.

That said, the Dragons scored five goals and kept two clean sheets across three home victories to secure promotion, so they will be confident of picking up a positive result in Zenica.

Iceland's Birkir Bjarnason and teammates celebrate after the match on September 27, 2022© Reuters

Unlike most European nations, Iceland have already participated in a couple of friendlies this year, drawing 1-1 with Estonia before losing 2-1 to Sweden in January.

On top of that, Arnar Vidarsson's men took part in the Baltic Cup back in November, but they did not cover themselves in glory against lower-ranked nations, despite winning the tournament as guests.

After being held to a goalless draw by Lithuania, Iceland failed to prevent a 1-1 draw with Lativa in the final, with Strakarnir okkar requiring a penalty shootout in order to triumph.

Iceland have now failed to win any of their previous seven matches inside 90 minutes, recording four draws and three losses since claiming a narrow 1-0 victory over Venezuela back in September.

When you look at the bigger picture, Iceland have managed to win just two of their past 18 games across all competitions, with three victories coming in their previous 24 outings.

Bosnia-Herzegovina form (all competitions):
  • D
  • W
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • L

Iceland form (all competitions):
  • L
  • L
  • D
  • D
  • D
  • L


Team News

Bosnia-Herzegovina's Sead Kolasinac is taken off injured in November 2021© Reuters

Faruk Hadzibegic could hand an international debut to Benjamin Tahirovic on Thursday, as the new Bosnia-Herzegovina boss has included the 20-year-old Roma midfielder in his first squad.

Having played a pivotal role in St Pauli's eight-game winning streak in the German second tier, goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj is expected to start ahead of the more experienced Ibrahim Sehic.

Veteran striker Edin Dzeko has netted 64 goals in 126 for Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the country's all-time leading scorer will be hopeful of enhancing his record against Iceland.

As for the visitors, Arnar Vidarsson has named a relatively conservative squad, calling up stalwarts such as Aron Gunnarsson, Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Alfred Finnbogason, who have a combined age of 99.

That said, Copenhagen teenager Hakon Arnar Haraldsson can provide a breath of fresh air, as the versatile 19-year-old has bagged four goals and three assists in the Danish Superliga this season.

Given that only two players in Iceland's squad have scored more than five international goals, Vidarsson may have to rely on Andri Gudjohnsen and Saevar Atli Magnusson to come off the bench and make an attacking impact.

Bosnia-Herzegovina possible starting lineup:
Vaslij; Dedic, Kovacevic, Hadzikadunic, Ahmedhodzic, Kolasinac; Krunic, Cimirot, Gojak; Dzeko, Demirovic

Iceland possible starting lineup:
Runarsson; Sampsted, Gunnarsson, Palsson, Olafsson; Magnusson; Sigurdsson, Gudmundsson, Traustason, Haraldsson; Finnbogason


SM words green background

We say: Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 Iceland

Led by the evergreen Edin Dzeko, we expect Bosnia-Herzegovina to kick-start the Faruk Hadzibegic era with a comfortable home victory over Iceland, whose struggles at both ends of the pitch look set to continue.



For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 2.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 2.5:data


ID:509524:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect9275:

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Game History

How you voted: Bosnia H'vina vs Iceland

Bosnia-Herzegovina
79.3%
Draw
10.7%
Iceland
10.0%
140
Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
Italy's Giacomo Raspadori celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on September 26, 2022
Read Next:
Italy beat Hungary to secure Nations League finals spot
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free match previews newsletter! Updates are sent twice a week.
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Cyprus Cyprus00000
2 Georgia Georgia00000
3 Norway Norway00000
Q Scotland flag Scotland00000
Q Spain Spain00000

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France00000
2 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar00000
3 Greece Greece00000
Q Netherlands Netherlands00000
5 Ireland Rep. Ireland00000

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England00000
Q Italy Italy00000
3 Malta flag Malta00000
4 Macedonia N. Macedonia00000
5 Ukraine Ukraine00000

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Armenia Armenia00000
Q Croatia Croatia00000
3 Latvia Latvia00000
Q Turkey Turkey00000
5 Wales flag Wales00000

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Albania national flag Albania00000
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic00000
3 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands00000
4 Republic of Moldova Moldova00000
5 Poland Poland00000

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria00000
2 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan00000
Q Belgium Belgium00000
4 Estonia Estonia00000
5 Sweden Sweden00000

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Bulgaria Bulgaria00000
Q Hungary Hungary00000
3 Lithuania Lithuania00000
4 Montenegro Montenegro00000
Q Serbia Serbia00000

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Denmark Denmark00000
2 Finland Finland00000
3 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan00000
4 Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland00000
5 San Marino flag San Marino00000
Q Slovenia Slovenia00000

Group I

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Andorra flag Andorra00000
2 Belarus Belarus00000
3 Israel Israel00000
4 Kosovo flag Kosovo00000
Q Romania Romania00000
Q Switzerland Switzerland00000

Group J

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina00000
2 Iceland Iceland00000
3 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein00000
4 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg00000
Q Portugal Portugal00000
Q Slovakia Slovakia00000


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!