Prediction: Hungary vs Iceland

Prediction: Iceland win

Best Odds: 43/20

Bookmaker: 888sport

While the international break may not be particularly thrilling for most fans, this time around, there’s something to play for. Eight nations are set to battle it out for four places in next year’s UEFA Euro 2021 tournament as the play-offs finally come to an end. There’s still a whole lot of uncertainty in the air when it comes to figuring out what Euro 2021 is actually going to look like next summer, but for now, all that Hungary and Iceland will care about is qualifying.

Hungary

Hungary were once considered to be the best national team in world football but as we all know, that hasn’t been the case for a long time. Still, they’ve managed to piece together an exciting enough squad and as we look ahead to the future, it definitely feels like they could wind up being big players if they can build on their recent success. Sure, they finished in fourth place in their qualifying group, but they were just two points away from reaching Euro 2021 automatically.

Team News

Szoboszlai will return after a negative COVID-19 test and will serve as a huge boost for the Hungarians. Elsewhere Klenheisler is expected to quarantine and miss the game with Barath, Kovacsik and Babati all missing out through injury.

Iceland

The ultimate underdogs are back again as they attempt to qualify for their third straight international tournament. The belief is that their golden generation is starting to slowly come to an end but after pushing France and Turkey all the way in their qualification group, they’ll be hopeful that they can put the cat amongst the pigeons once again. It’s going to take an almighty effort but for now, all they’re care about is getting the win – by any means necessary.

Team News

Iceland have no fresh injury concerns to worry about which could, and probably should, give them a notable advantage heading into the game. The expectation is that they could name the same starting XI which played in the win against Romania and from a team cohesion point of view, that’s great news.

Factors to Consider

• The winner will go into Group F with Portugal, France and Germany.
• Hungary beat Bulgaria 3-1 in their Path A semi-final.
• Iceland beat Romania 2-1 in their Path A Semi-final.
• Hungary have won three, drawn one and lost two of their last six games.
• Iceland have won two and lost four of their last six games.

Conclusion

From a quality and logic standpoint it feels as if Hungary are going to have some kind of edge over Iceland, but a lot of the time, that’s not how games like this operate. We’ve just got a feeling that Iceland’s big stars are going to show up when it matters the most, and even though it’s still going to be a close game, we’re backing the Euro 2016 quarter-finalists to spring another surprise by booking their place in next year’s final tournament.

Prediction: Iceland win

Best Odds: 43/20

Bookmaker: 888sport