Sweden and Finland step up their preparations for Euro 2020 when facing off in a warm-up match at Friends Arena in Solna. Janne Andersson’s side boast the better recent form from March’s international break and get the nod to prevail on home turf.
To celebrate the return of the European Championships this summer, our analysts have devised a fiendish Euro 2020 quiz based on the history of the competition to date. There are only 10 questions, making it the ideal challenge for a coffee break or half-time interval.
Republic of Ireland’s international friendly versus Qatar in Hungary has taken on added significance since their embarrassing loss to Luxembourg. There will be no World Cup qualifying points at stake here, but reputations are on the line following such a low point in Stephen Kenny’s winless reign.
Northern Ireland produced an encouraging performance against Italy on Thursday night but could be forgiven for easing off against the United States in Sunday’s friendly. The main focus for Ian Baraclough’s men will be their second World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria on Wednesday so the hosts are unlikely to be at full strength.
Wales will have one eye on Tuesday’s crucial World Cup qualifier against the Czech Republic when they host Mexico in an international friendly in Cardiff. Wednesday night’s 3-1 away defeat to Belgium was a disappointing start to their campaign, although it gave us three winning betting tips including an 11/1 correct score prediction!
If good things come to those who wait then fans of international football are in for a treat this summer at Euro 2020. The tournament was postponed due to the continent being in lockdown last year but on June 11 it is finally set to kick off. In anticipation we have looked back at how each of the 24 Euro 2020 teams qualified for the tournament.
Ireland have stepped in to provide England with opposition for a friendly match in preparation for their Nations League games against Belgium and Iceland. New Zealand were originally due to be the opponents at Wembley but pulled out due to travel complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Netherlands have been hit with some injury problems at the back for the latest international break and Spain are fancied to take advantage in Amsterdam. La Roja will be keen to bounce back from a surprise Nations League loss to Ukraine last time out and have several in-form front men at the moment.
Scotland have drawn the short straw in the Euro 2020 play-off finals by having to visit Serbia but travel in fine spirits following a fine run of results. Their hosts can call on a number of top-class individuals, but have been inconsistent in recent times and could be worth taking on at the odds on offer.
Slovakia and Republic of Ireland have a history of tight tussles and Thursday’s Euro 2020 qualifying play-off promises to be another close encounter. These evenly-matched teams have played out four consecutive draws since the men in green shaded their first meeting 1-0 back in 2007.
Northern Ireland face a tough task when travelling to Sarajevo to face Bosnia and Herzegovina in a Euro 2020 qualifying play-off. The visitors are 12 places higher in the FIFA rankings, but their hosts have a far more talented team on paper and beat them twice in the Nations League two years ago.
England have already hammered Montenegro 5-1 away in Euro 2020 Group A and are priced at prohibitive odds to do the double over them at Wembley on Thursday. The Brave Falcons have failed to score in their last four qualifiers and are currently without star striker Stevan Jovetic due to injury.
Wales must win their last couple of Euro 2020 Group C qualifiers to have any chance of a top-two finish and can start off by beating Azerbaijan in Baku. The hosts are bottom of this pool, having picked up just one point from six fixtures, although they have scored in all three home matches so far.
Switzerland must go for a win when taking on the Republic of Ireland in Geneva and are fancied to get their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign back on track. The Swiss are four points behind Ireland and Denmark, but have a game in hand and finish off with matches against Georgia at home and Gibraltar away.