Ukraine take on the visitors Iceland in the final match of promotion to UEFA Euro-2024. The match will be played on Tuesday, March 26th at Tarczynski Arena (Wrocław).
Ukraine participate in playoffs. In 2016, they were successful in such a format, defeating Slovenia. However, failure is more common, as in the last World Cup, where they were denied entry by Wales in the decisive playoff match. Interestingly, since then, the team has undergone significant changes, starting from the head coach (currently managed by the local legend, Rebrov) to the squad. It's noteworthy that there were only a couple of defeats in the qualifiers, exclusively against powerhouses England and Italy, drawing with them in other matches. However, in Zenica on Thursday, another defeat seemed likely. Bosnia took the lead after Matviyenko's own goal and confidently held onto the lead. But then Yaremchuk came on, acting as a true joker, turning a 0-1 deficit into a resilient 2-1 victory in just a couple of minutes, providing an assist for Dovbyk. Well, the Ukrainians will play in the decisive round again. But will they have enough strength for the final match?
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Iceland exposes all the flaws of the current format. The Ice Men gained a lot of sympathy during their debut Euro, where the national team from a small and remote island not only qualified for the tournament but also reached the quarter-finals. A couple of years later, in 2018, they tried their luck at the World Cup. However, they were limited to just one draw there. But subsequent cycles have been unsuccessful. In 2022, they earned 10 points in 10 qualifying matches, with more than half coming from victories against Liechtenstein. As a result, the national team lagged significantly behind not only Portugal and Slovakia but also Luxembourg, by 7 points. However, they did outpace the Bosnians. Previously, in the Nations League, there were draws in all matches against Israel and Albania. And according to the current rules, this was enough to face Israel again, this time in a playoff. In Budapest, Hreidar's charges confidently won 4-1 (with Gudmundsson from Genoa, incidentally, a teammate of Malinovsky, who scored a hat-trick, as the hero). But it's worth noting that the Icelanders conceded 2 silly penalties, including when they were leading 2-1 with a man advantage. However, Zahavi missed from the spot, and towards the end, his partners scored a couple of goals in finishing mode.
In 1999, during Euro qualifiers, the Yellow-Blues collected 4 out of 6 points. But in the qualification for the 2018 World Cup, the Ice Men responded in kind. Rebrov's charges are considered favorites. But they are not without flaws, and the nominal guests have their advantages. Let's bet on both teams to score.
Prediction for the match: Both teams to score – yes.
