Euro qualifiers: Home nations and Ireland look to bounce back
Having conceded a 94th-minute equaliser in Riga, Turkey went straight up the other end to snatch victory and restore control of their UEFA European Championship qualification (ECQ) destiny.
Stefan Kuntz’s men sit top of Group D and find themselves in the midst of a purple patch having won four of their last five matches (L1).
Looking to qualify for a third consecutive Euros, the Crescent Stars have been in imperious ECQ form for quite some time, with just two defeats from their last 21 such matches (W14, D5) proving they can be imperious when battling on this front.
However, Wales are an opponent they’ve struggled against historically, most recently being beaten 2-0 by Rob Page’s men at Euro 2020. The situation the Dragons currently find themselves in is a far cry from that glorious day in Baku though, with Friday’s chastening 4-2 defeat at home to Armenia providing a “reality check” to Page’s side.
A first home ECQ loss since March 2011 made it one win from 11 matches since securing qualification for the World Cup last June (D3, L7) as pressure begins to mount on Page.
A first H2H on Turkish soil this millennium, therefore, represents a huge challenge for a side who are winless in four away from home (D1, L3), albeit each of those games came against sides currently ranked inside the top 23 in the world, on paper tougher games than a clash with #43 ranked Turkey.
Players to watch: Since the end of the last Euros, Cengiz Ünder has scored seven times, more than any other player for Turkey. Changes may be afoot in the Welsh camp, and that could see Nathan Broadhead handed his first start for the national team - the Ipswich Town forward scored a 93rd-minute equaliser against Croatia on their last away trip.
Hot stat: Turkey have scored at least twice in each of their last 18 victories.
Follow Turkey v Wales live with Flashscore
After seeing a last-gasp equaliser ruled out by VAR on Friday night against Denmark, a frustrated Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill conceded it’ll be “extremely difficult” for his side to qualify for the 2024 UEFA European Championships now.
His second stint in charge of the Green and White Army started with a 2-0 win over San Marino in March, but including Friday night’s defeat in Copenhagen, two successive 1-0 losses have left his side second from bottom in Group H.
O’Neill has called upon a young squad in these recent qualifiers and a youthful-looking Northern Ireland finished Friday’s game with six players under the age of 21.
Rearing them is likely to be a primary focus for him as he looks ahead to future tournaments, yet he’ll still be desperate to get the winning feeling back into the camp with his side now having won just four of their last 16 matches across all competitions (D4, L8).
Kazakhstan may still not yet have qualified for either a Euros or FIFA World Cup finals since joining UEFA in 2002, but there’s growing confidence in their group that 2024 could be the year they break that duck.
They bounced back from an opening round 2-1 loss at home to Slovenia by securing a memorable 3-2 win against Denmark, and followed that up with a 3-0 success over San Marino meaning they head into this round joint-top with the Danes in Group H.
The visitors already have the safety net of a guaranteed spot in the play-offs thanks to their performances in the UEFA Nations League, yet they’d surely love to get qualification secured without that lottery.
As this clash comes on the road, this will be a big test for Kazakhstan, whose only away win from their last five trips came in that San Marino success, while their two most recent losses both came away to teams ranked lower than Northern Ireland (62) in FIFA’s world rankings.
Players to watch: Forward Dion Charles scored in his final home appearance of the season for Bolton, and netted Northern Ireland’s only two goals from their last three matches. Similarly prolific of late, Askhat Tagybergen finished his domestic season with seven goals in his final nine games with Ordabasy and has netted in the second half in his last two Kazakhstan matches.
Hot stat: Kazakhstan could secure three straight wins while scoring 3+ goals for the first time in their history.
Follow Northern Ireland v Kazakhstan live with Flashscore
After a 2-1 defeat against Greece extended the Republic of Ireland’s losing start to their Euro 2024 qualification campaign to two matches, boss Stephen Kenny was frank that he has to “accept” the criticism being thrust his way.
Kenny insisted his side were “hurting” after that latest defeat, but a home tie against FIFA’s #201 ranked side, Gibraltar, seems a perfect chance to kick-start their faltering campaign.
The pair have met four times in the past decade, with each game following a similar pattern - a Republic of Ireland victory.
All four came with an accompanying clean sheet, and after Kenny’s admittance that his side lost the Greece game due to “poor defending”, Gibraltar’s visit is perhaps timely as Republic of Ireland bid to avoid just a second defeat in a home Euro qualifier since 2011 (W8, D6, L1).
In one of the greatest mismatches the FIFA rankings have to offer, Gibraltar’s 3-0 defeat to #2 ranked France on Friday was perhaps no disgrace.
There’s no points on offer for effort alone though, and how Gibraltar would love to taste the success of securing at least one point in a Euro qualification campaign, as their previous 21 games in this capacity have all ended in defeat!
That includes a 7-0 loss against Ireland back in 2017 in their first-ever away Euro qualifier, and considering they’ve conceded at least twice in each of their ten such games to date, a heavy defeat can never be ruled out.
Each of their games in this qualification cycle have followed suit too, with all three so far interestingly ending 3-0 after Gibraltar trailed at half-time.
Players to watch: An unlikely scorer in midweek, Nathan Collins has seen both his international strikes serve as his side’s only goal of the game, both of which arrived in the month of June! Gibraltar’s Lee Casciaro is one of just two players in the nation’s history to score in an away Euro qualifier, with his goal coming back in March 2015 against Scotland.
Hot stat: Only two of Gibraltar’s Euro qualifiers have ever produced under 2.5 goals, with both games coming against the Republic of Ireland!
