Belarus vs Switzerland prediction: EUROPE: Euro – Qualification betting tips on match 2023-03-24 17:00.
It’s more than 20 years since Belarus (FIFA rank: #97) almost qualified for the 2002 World Cup, but they haven’t got close to a major tournament since. Playing home games in Serbia due to the war in Ukraine, they face a challenging European Championship qualification (ECQ) campaign, which they start against Switzerland (FIFA rank: #12) looking for a first competitive victory since March 2021 (D3, L10 since).
As they’ve drawn their last two games in Novi Sad, they might be expected to put up a stiff challenge, especially as they lost none of the three previous H2Hs by more than a two-goal margin. But considering their last two victories in Belarus were against teams ranked outside of FIFA’s top 80 (Jordan and Estonia), a shock victory seems like too tall an order for the White Wings.
Switzerland are back in action after being dumped out of the World Cup by Portugal (L 6-1) in December and will expect to make the running as Group I’s highest-ranked team. Without a draw since March 2022 (W5, L6), a result seems likely for a side that’s provided good entertainment recently – their last seven matches produced an average of 3.14 goals per game!
They’ve won just one of their last five away fixtures (D1, L3), although that was a 2-1 win in Spain to conclude their UEFA Nations League campaign which should give them confidence as they take on a side many people believe shouldn’t be playing. Just last week, a group of Swiss politicians urged UEFA to cancel the match due to Belarus’ close ties with banned Russia.
Players to watch: Vladimir Khvashchinskiy (BEL) scored and assisted in his last outing for Dinamo Minsk so may fancy his chances of netting his first international goal since March 2013! By contrast, Granit Xhaka (SWI) is seeking a third goalscoring game in a row after netting for Arsenal against Sporting Lisbon and Crystal Palace.
Hot streak: All three previous H2Hs saw the scoring confined to one half (Switzerland: W3).