Iceland vs Luxembourg prediction: EUROPE: Euro – Qualification betting tips on match 2023-10-12 18:45.
Iceland kept their slim hopes of reaching UEFA Euro 2024 alive with a 91st-minute winner against Bosnia and Herzegovina last month. The result means that Åge Hareide’s men still have a chance of finishing in the top two, but ahead of this fixture they are down in fifth place and seven points behind second-placed Slovakia, who occupy the final qualifying spot in Group J.
Although Iceland have scored ten goals in six qualifiers this campaign, more than all but runaway leaders Portugal in the group, seven of those goals came in the visit to Liechtenstein in March. Contrary to what that scoreline may suggest, goalscoring has largely been an issue for the Euro 2016 quarter-finalists, who saw one of their three goals outside of that game come in their 3-1 defeat against Friday's opponents Luxembourg last month.
By contrast, Luxembourg head into this game only three points adrift of the top-two and rightly still believe that they can book a place at a European Championship finals for the first time in their history. They have already equalled their total of three victories from their next-best European qualification campaign in 1996, as well as matching the three wins from their eight 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, so defeating Iceland would see them notch up four wins in a single qualifying cycle for the first time.
The Red Lions travel north off the back of a 9-0 mauling by Portugal in their last match, leaving Luc Holtz with a hefty challenge to rebuild the confidence of his team ahead of this latest challenge. It will be interesting to see if he retains the support of the players though, after he stormed down the tunnel of his own accord, not to return, with seven minutes remaining at the Estádio Algarve after Portugal’s eighth.
Players to watch: Alfreð Finnbogason has netted both of Iceland’s last two goals at home and scored twice and assisted one across his last five outings for club and country. Luxembourg’s Danel Sinani found the net in three successive internationals before the defeat against Portugal, with all three goals coming after half-time, including in the reverse fixture against Iceland.
Hot stat: Across their last three games, Iceland have conceded twice and scored twice from the 88th minute onwards.