Ukraine vs Iceland prediction: EUROPE: World Cup – Qualification betting tips on match 2025-11-15 17:00.
[p]Ukraine and Iceland are both aiming to keep their World Cup dreams alive, as the battle for second place in Group D will be decided in this final day showdown. [/p]
[p]Match News and Current Form[/p]
[p]Serhiy Rebrovâs Ukraine side must dust themselves down and go again after a 4-0 mauling at the hands of France on Thursday ended their automatic qualification hopes. Second spot is as good as itâs going to get for Ukraine, but to sneak into the play-off place, they have to beat Iceland here on neutral Warsaw turf. That would give Ukraine the chance for redemption, considering five of their previous seven World Cup qualifying (WCQ) campaigns ended in play-off heartbreak. The Blue and Yellow therefore have all the motivation they need, but their first task is to actually reach the play-off stage, something they should be confident of doing having gone unbeaten in their three games against lower-ranked opponents in this group so far (W2, D1), including a victory in the reverse fixture. Â Â Â [/p]
[p]Iceland are in a stronger position than their hosts and know that a draw will be enough to book a play-off place after they beat Azerbaijan 2-0 on the road on Thursday. The Nordic nation are now chasing a second appearance at the finals after a group stage exit in 2018, but theyâd be wise not to look too far ahead just yet given theyâve lost six of their last ten internationals (W3, D1). Such a sorry record shows the job is far from done yet for Iceland, who saw their Euro 2024 hopes ended with an âawayâ defeat against Ukraine on Polish soil, so they have a psychological barrier to overcome here.[/p]
[p]Head-to-Head History[/p]
[p]Ukraine have only lost one of the six previous H2Hs (W3, D2), winning the reverse fixture 5-3 last month. [/p]
[p]Hot Stats and Streaks[/p]
[p]Nine of Ukraineâs last 12 matches saw both teams score.[/p]
[p]Eleven of Ukraineâs previous 15 goals came after half-time.[/p]
[p]Eight of Icelandâs last ten games produced over 2.5 goals. [/p]
[p]All five of Icelandâs WCQ games in this cycle saw at least one first-half goal.[/p]
[p]Key Players to Watch and Missing Players[/p]
[p]Oleksiy Gutsulyak scored and assisted against Azerbaijan last month, and Ukraine have won all four matches in which he has found the net, including the reverse H2H. Sverrir Ingi Ingason netted his first international goal in almost exactly nine years on Thursday, and is unbeaten in each of his last 20 goalscoring appearances for club and country (W13, D7). [/p]
[p]Neither side appear to have any fresh concerns after Thursdayâs matches. [/p]
[p]For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.[/p]
[p]Betting Analysis[/p]
[p]Ukraine look like the best pick here, but in a game with such high stakes, coupling a Ukraine win with both teams to score could pay a nice return.[/p]
[p][i]Author: James Hilsum[/i][/p]