Iceland will be bidding to keep their slim hopes of qualifying for Euro 2024 alive when they welcome Liechtenstein in Group J on Monday night.

The hosts are fifth in the section on seven points, six points behind second-placed Slovakia with three games left, while Liechtenstein are rooted to the bottom of the division on zero points.

Match preview

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Iceland will enter Monday's contest off the back of a 1-1 draw with Luxembourg on Friday; Age Hareide's side took the lead in the 23rd minute of the match through Orri Oskarsson, but Gerson Rodrigues came up with a leveller for the visitors early in the second period.

Our Boys have taken four points from their last two games in Group J, having also beaten Bosnia-Herzegovina last month, but a disappointing campaign to date has left them in fifth spot in the section on seven points.

Portugal have already qualified from Group J, having beaten Slovakia on Friday, but second position is still open, and Iceland remain in the hunt for a spot at Euro 2024 despite their difficulties in the section.

Hareide's team will be unable to finish in the top two if they lose to Liechtenstein, while a draw would also eliminate them if either Luxembourg, Slovakia or Bosnia-Herzegovina win, demonstrating the importance of picking up all three points in this match.

Iceland have only ever been present in the finals of one European Championship, but they were hugely impressive in that particular tournament, reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2016.

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Liechtenstein, meanwhile, are rooted to the bottom of the section on zero points, having lost each of their seven matches in Group J, scoring just once and conceding 21.

Securing qualification for a major tournament is the dream, but the reality of the situation is that the national side have not won a single match since October 2020, with three years passing since they overcame Luxembourg in a friendly.

Konrad Funfstuck became head coach of the national side in May, and although there have been signs of improvement in recent matches, the 43-year-old has lost all five of his games at the helm.

The Blue-Reds will enter this match off the back of a 2-0 home loss to Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday, while they were beaten 7-0 by Iceland in the reverse fixture between the two nations back in March.

Liechtenstein have only ever won five qualification matches for a European Championship, and it will be difficult to add to that total before the end of the section in November.

Team News

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Alfred Finnbogason was surprisingly not a starter against Luxembourg on Friday, with the 34-year-old instead featuring off the bench in the second half of the contest.

Oskarsson made full use of his opportunity by scoring his first international goal last time out, and the 19-year-old is set to continue in the final third of the field here.

Finnbogason could potentially be introduced in place of Hakon Arnar Haraldsson, while it is likely that there will be at least one other change, with Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson also potentially coming into the side.

As for Liechtenstein, there will have to be an alteration at right-back for this contest, as Sandro Wolfinger was forced off with an injury in the first half of the clash with Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Severin Schlegel was his replacement on the night and is now expected to come into the starting side for the contest with Iceland.

Dennis Salanovic is the leading goalscorer in the squad with four, and the 27-year-old, who does not currently have a club side, is set to feature in the final third of the field once again.

Iceland possible starting lineup:
Runarsson; Sampsted, Palsson, Ingason, Finnsson; Thorsteinsson, Traustason, Bergmann, A Sigurdsson; Finnbogason, Oskarsson

Liechtenstein possible starting lineup:
Buchel; Schlegel, Malin, Wieser, Hofer; Luchinger, Buchel, Sele, Goppel; Notaro, Salanovic

We say: Iceland 2-0 Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein have managed to keep the scores down since their change of manager in June, so we are not expecting the visitors to be on the end of a heavy loss on Monday, but it is very difficult to back anything other than an Iceland win here.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Matt Law

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