Ukraine vs Iceland prediction: EUROPE: Euro – Qualification – Promotion betting tips on match 2024-03-25 19:45.
[p]Given the ongoing conflict in the country, it would be a remarkable achievement if Ukraine were to qualify for UEFA Euro 2024. Serhiy Rebrov’s side have not been able to play a home game in over two years, but potentially stand just 90 minutes away from their fourth successive European Championships, as they take on Iceland in a one-off play-off final at the Wrocław Stadium in Poland.[/p]
[p]The Blue and Yellows reached this far by beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-1 in their semi-final tie last week, extending their unbeaten run to four matches (W3, D1) in the process. They do have a worrying record in final play-off ties to overcome to seal their place in this summer’s tournament, winning just one (vs Slovenia in 2015) of seven such FIFA World Cup or European Championship matches.[/p]
[p]That may give further confidence to their opponents, who are already on a high after thrashing Israel 4-1 on Thursday, a performance that manager Ă…ge Hareide described as the best of his tenure. He will be hoping for more of the same as Iceland look to reach only their second European Championships since their run to the quarter-finals in 2016.[/p]
[p]If form is anything to go by, they certainly have a strong chance of making it to Germany. Their current run of three successive victories is their best run of results since January 2020, with each of those wins impressively coming on foreign shores. However, they do find it tough to beat some of international football’s better teams on the road, failing to win away against any team ranked inside FIFA’s top 30 since success in Turkey in October 2017.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Forward Artem Dovbyk has netted the last goal in six of his seven scoring appearances for Ukraine. Fighting him for the limelight will be Albert GuĂ°mundsson, who bagged his second international hat-trick against Israel, and has helped Iceland to victory in three of the four matches he has scored in (D1).[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Ukraine have only conceded one second-half goal in their last eight games.[/p]