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Iceland national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Jun 17, 2023 at 7.45pm UK
Laugardalsvollur
Slovakia national football team

Iceland
1 - 2
Slovakia

Finnbogason (41' pen.)
Magnusson (67')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Kucka (27'), Suslov (69')
Pekarik (26')

Preview: Iceland vs. Slovakia - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Euro Champ Qualifying clash between Iceland and Slovakia, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Two teams that will have their eyes on a top-two finish in Group J will lock horns in a Euro 2024 qualification fixture on Saturday, with Iceland welcoming Slovakia.

Iceland are currently fourth in the section, picking up three points from their opening two matches, while Slovakia are second, boasting four points from their first two games.


Match preview

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

Iceland made a disappointing start to their Group J campaign, suffering a 3-0 loss to Bosnia-Herzegovina, but they bounced back in excellent fashion three days later by thumping Liechtenstein 7-0.

There has since been a change at the helm, with Age Hareide now in charge of the national side, and the 69-year-old will be bidding to make the perfect start to his time with Our Boys on Saturday.

Iceland have back-to-back home games against Slovakia and Portugal during this break, and these are the type of matches that they will need to pick up points in if a top-two finish is to be a possibility.

The national side famously played at the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2016, reaching the quarter-finals of the latter, but they did not manage to secure a position at Euro 2020.

Iceland have not beaten Slovakia since March 2008, although the two teams have only locked horns twice since then, with Slovakia running out 3-1 winners in their last meeting - a friendly in November 2015.

Slovakia's Robert Mak celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on March 26, 2023© Reuters

Portugal are undoubtedly the favourites when it comes to topping Group J, but Slovakia will be expecting to make a strong push for second, which is the position that they occupy at this early stage.

The Falcons opened their qualification campaign with a goalless draw against Luxembourg on March 23, but they did return to winning ways three days later by beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0.

Slovakia made the last-16 stage of Euro 2016 before going out in the group stage of Euro 2020, and they are aiming to qualify for the finals of a European Championship for the third time in a row.

The national side were not present at the 2022 World Cup, though, with their last appearance in the finals of that competition coming in 2010, when they reached the round of 16.

Francesco Calzona's side will bring a five-game unbeaten run into this match, with their last competitive defeat proving to be against Azerbaijan in the UEFA Nations League last September.

Iceland Euro Champ Qualifying form:


Iceland form (all competitions):


Slovakia Euro Champ Qualifying form:


Slovakia form (all competitions):



Team News

Juraj Kucka in action for Slovakia in June 2021© Reuters

Despite the change of manager, Iceland's XI is expected to be close to the one that took to the field for the first whistle of the 7-0 success against Liechtenstein last time out.

Aaron Gunnarsson scored twice from central defence, and the captain could again line up in that area of the field for this match, while Burnley's Johann Berg Gudmundsson will also be named in the starting side.

There is a lack of genuine centre-forwards in the squad, but one of those will start, with Alfred Finnbogason set to lead the line, and he could potentially be joined by Hakon Arnar Haraldsson.

Slovakia, meanwhile, will have plenty of familiar faces in their side, with the likes of Martin Dubravka, Peter Pekarik, Ondrej Duda and Robert Mak set to start once again.

Mak could play in a front three with Robert Polievka and Lukas Haraslin, although there are a number of other options in the final third of the field.

Juraj Kucka is the captain and will start in midfield, while Norbert Gyomber and Denis Vavro are expected to be the two central defenders for the home side.


Iceland possible starting lineup:
Runarsson; Palsson, A Gunnarsson, Magnusson, Gretarsson; A Sigurdsson, Gudmundsson, Traustason, Porsteinsson; Finnbogason, Haraldsson

Slovakia possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Pekarik, Gyomber, Vavro, Hancko; Kucka, Lobotka, Duda; Mak, Polievka, Haraslin


SM words green background

We say: Iceland 1-2 Slovakia

This has all of the makings of a very interesting match, and we are expecting Saturday's contest to be close in terms of the final scoreline. It would not be a surprise to see Iceland pick up a positive result, but we believe that Slovakia will just shade it to collect a hugely important three points.



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


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Game History

How you voted: Iceland vs Slovakia

Iceland
33.3%
Draw
14.4%
Slovakia
52.2%
90
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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


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