Kazakhstan vs San Marino prediction: EUROPE: Euro – Qualification betting tips on match 2023-11-16 15:00.
With two games remaining, Kazakhstan sit four points behind the top two in Group H but already have a guaranteed play-off spot for next summer’s European Championship finals due to their exploits in the UEFA Nations League. Automatic qualification actually still remains an achievable target especially as Denmark and Slovenia are playing each other on the same day Kazakhstan take on San Marino, meaning confidence in the camp is growing that a first appearance at a major tournament finals as an independent nation can be achieved.
Magomed Adiyev’s side have won five of their first eight in this campaign (L3), including a routine 3-0 win in the reverse H2H fixture back in June. The return clash against minnows San Marino presents an ideal opportunity to close the gap to the top two, with their final clash in this group coming a few days later away to Slovenia, a match which could decide who takes an automatic qualification spot.
San Marino have already been eliminated from this qualifying cycle, which isn’t a huge surprise for the nation which is officially the worst in international football – they sit 207th out of 207 sides in the FIFA men's rankings. Since their maiden contest in 1990, La Serenissima have lost all bar nine matches they’ve been involved in, with their only success coming nearly 20 years ago against Liechtenstein (1-0, April 2004).
Fabrizio Costantini’s men have conceded a whopping 26 goals across their eight Group H defeats so far. However, they did hit a rare response last time out against Denmark when Alessandro Golinucci netted in the second half to draw his side level at 1-1. San Marino still went on to lose that game 2-1, but the fixture was remembered for the jubilant scenes following that equalising strike which was the away side’s first goal since September 2021!
Players to watch: Six of Kazakhstan’s eight qualifying games so far have been decided by a one-goal margin, with Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov netting four times, including twice from the penalty spot. San Marino midfielder Lorenzo Capicchioni picked up a yellow card last time out and has committed more fouls than any other San Marino player in this qualifying cycle (11).
Hot stat: Kazakhstan have scored three or more goals in each of the three previous H2Hs between the two nations.