Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland will kick off their Euro 2024 qualifying campaigns when they face off in Zenica on Thursday evening.
With Portugal favoured to top Group J – and Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Slovakia also in the group – Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland will both be eager to start qualification on a positive note.
Match preview
Despite overseeing Nations League promotion last year, Ivaylo Petev was relieved of his duties as Bosnia-Herzegovina head coach in December, with Faruk Hadzibegic coming in as his successor.
Tasked with getting the Dragons to their first-ever European Championship, Hadzibegic will be expected to hit the ground running on Thursday, having replaced a popular – and successful – figure in Petev.
Indeed, Petev guided Bosnia-Herzegovina through an impressive Nations League campaign last year, suffering a solitary defeat in six matches to finish above Finland, Montenegro and Romania.
It is worth noting, however, that Bosnia-Herzegovina failed to win any of their away games during that campaign, recording 1-1 draws in Finland and Montenegro before suffering a 4-1 thrashing in Romania last time out.
That said, the Dragons scored five goals and kept two clean sheets across three home victories to secure promotion, so they will be confident of picking up a positive result in Zenica.
Unlike most European nations, Iceland have already participated in a couple of friendlies this year, drawing 1-1 with Estonia before losing 2-1 to Sweden in January.
On top of that, Arnar Vidarsson's men took part in the Baltic Cup back in November, but they did not cover themselves in glory against lower-ranked nations, despite winning the tournament as guests.
After being held to a goalless draw by Lithuania, Iceland failed to prevent a 1-1 draw with Lativa in the final, with Strakarnir okkar requiring a penalty shootout in order to triumph.
Iceland have now failed to win any of their previous seven matches inside 90 minutes, recording four draws and three losses since claiming a narrow 1-0 victory over Venezuela back in September.
When you look at the bigger picture, Iceland have managed to win just two of their past 18 games across all competitions, with three victories coming in their previous 24 outings.
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Team News
Faruk Hadzibegic could hand an international debut to Benjamin Tahirovic on Thursday, as the new Bosnia-Herzegovina boss has included the 20-year-old Roma midfielder in his first squad.
Having played a pivotal role in St Pauli's eight-game winning streak in the German second tier, goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj is expected to start ahead of the more experienced Ibrahim Sehic.
Veteran striker Edin Dzeko has netted 64 goals in 126 for Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the country's all-time leading scorer will be hopeful of enhancing his record against Iceland.
As for the visitors, Arnar Vidarsson has named a relatively conservative squad, calling up stalwarts such as Aron Gunnarsson, Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Alfred Finnbogason, who have a combined age of 99.
That said, Copenhagen teenager Hakon Arnar Haraldsson can provide a breath of fresh air, as the versatile 19-year-old has bagged four goals and three assists in the Danish Superliga this season.
Given that only two players in Iceland's squad have scored more than five international goals, Vidarsson may have to rely on Andri Gudjohnsen and Saevar Atli Magnusson to come off the bench and make an attacking impact.
Bosnia-Herzegovina possible starting lineup:
Vaslij; Dedic, Kovacevic, Hadzikadunic, Ahmedhodzic, Kolasinac; Krunic, Cimirot, Gojak; Dzeko, Demirovic
Iceland possible starting lineup:
Runarsson; Sampsted, Gunnarsson, Palsson, Olafsson; Magnusson; Sigurdsson, Gudmundsson, Traustason, Haraldsson; Finnbogason
We say: Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 Iceland
Led by the evergreen Edin Dzeko, we expect Bosnia-Herzegovina to kick-start the Faruk Hadzibegic era with a comfortable home victory over Iceland, whose struggles at both ends of the pitch look set to continue.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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