Slovakia vs Iceland

Tehelné pole is the venue as Slovakia look to confirm their place at next summer’s Euro 2024 against Iceland.

One point away from sealing a third consecutive European Championships qualification, Slovakia come into proceedings as odds-on favorites to make it three H2H wins in a row against Iceland for the first time. Francesco Calzona’s men have bounced back from a dramatic 3-2 defeat to Group J pacesetters Portugal with a 1-0 win at Luxembourg last time out, putting a fifth victory on the board in eight Euro 2024 qualifiers (D1, L2). Since their only losses in the ongoing qualifying campaign have come against Portugal, who also remain the only side to have scored on Slovakian soil during this cycle, it stands to reason the ‘Falcons’ will be out for more than just a point. Yet, scoring hasn’t been their strong suit by any stretch of the imagination, as they’ve drawn a blank in three of their last five home matches.

In the meantime, Iceland’s hopes of making it to the Euro finals for the first time since a memorable 2016 edition and, in turn, ensuring their second-ever appearance at the tournament are practically dead in the water despite a rampant 4-0 home win over Liechtenstein last time out. The visitors have racked up a three-game unbeaten streak in ongoing Euro qualifying (W2, D1) ahead of this trip. However, it’s been too little too late, as not only do they need to win here, but hope Slovakia and Luxembourg won’t pick up points in the group finale. Leaving their country doesn’t help either, with Iceland only beating continental whipping boys Liechtenstein, San Marino, and the Faroe Islands in regulation time in their 21 outings on foreign soil (D6, L11).