San Marino vs Finland prediction: EUROPE: Euro – Qualification betting tips on match 2023-11-19 19:45.
For the first time since 2005, San Marino found the net in back-to-back competitive games in a pair of plucky performances which ultimately saw them beaten 2-1 and 3-1 by Denmark and Kazakhstan respectively. That is still mightily impressive for FIFA’s lowest ranked nation (#207), but nine defeats in this European Championship Qualifying (ECQ) has only served to exacerbate what is already a rotten all-time ECQ record (D1, L84).
Any once-held forlorn hopes of qualification are already dead and buried for the hosts, who are looking to avoid defeat in an ECQ match for the first time since November 2014 here. The microstate are yet again massive underdogs for this upcoming outing, a point further illustrated by the fact that their entire population could fit within Finland’s national venue with room to spare!
It was at that ground, the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, that Finland played out a 4-0 victory against Northern Ireland on Friday, a result which matters little in the grand scheme of things though, as their ECQ campaign cannot end with a top-two finish. That doesn’t mean that this game isn’t important however, as Finland have already guaranteed a play-off place and will likely see this match as ideal extra preparation.
The Fins were humbled 3-0 by Slovenia in their latest ECQ trip, yet their two victories to nil prior to that suggest that they’re more than capable of bouncing back in solid style against the worst ranked side in world football. Unsurprisingly, Finland have won all five prior H2Hs between these two nations, and they haven’t even conceded a goal since winning the very first meeting 4-1 all the way back in 1994 (GF: 21).
Players to watch: Two players who ply their trade for mid-table Sammarinese amateur league side Juvenes/Dogana, Manuel Battistini and scorer Simone Franciosi combined for an unlikely goal against Kazakhstan. As for Finland, Joel Pohjanpalo has scored his last five international goals in Helsinki, but he could change that here as he seeks three straight scoring appearances between club & country for the first time since May.
Hot stat: Each of Finland’s last 12 ECQ victories have come without reply.