San Marino will go in search of their first-ever competitive victory when they host Kazakhstan in Euro 2024 qualifying on Friday evening.
As expected, the perennial minnows find themselves rooted to the foot of Group H after two matches, while Kazakhstan occupy third place.
Match preview
Unsurprisingly, San Marino are the only team in Group H without a single point to their name, as Fabrizio Costantini's men suffered 2-0 defeats against Northern Ireland and Slovenia back in March.
After registering 28% possession and a solitary shot on target against Northern Ireland, San Marino saw just 23% of the ball while failing to manage a single attempt on target against Slovenia, underlining the team's struggles.
San Marino's first and only win came all the way back in 2004 when La Serenissima claimed a 1-0 friendly victory over Liechtenstein, but they have failed to win a competitive match since forming in 1986.
Costantini's men ended a 19-game losing streak when they held Seychelles to a goalless draw last September, and following a 4-0 defeat to Estonia, San Marino claimed a 1-1 draw with Saint Lucia in November.
Having lost 23 of their previous 25 matches, the smallest UEFA member state by surface area and population would view a draw against Kazakhstan as one of the best results in their history.
Following a deserved 2-1 defeat against Slovenia in their opening Euro 2024 qualifier, Kazakhstan were not expected to enjoy much success against Group H favourites Denmark in their second outing.
When Rasmus Hojlund bagged a first-half brace to hand the Danes a healthy lead in Astana, Kazakhstan appeared to be heading for back-to-back losses, but a spirited comeback saw the hosts turn the game on its head.
Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov pulled a goal back from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute before Askhat Tagybergen equalised in the 86th minute, setting the stage for Abat Aymbetov to score the winner in the final minute of normal time.
Naturally, the Hawks will still be soaring with confidence following March's comeback victory over Denmark, but there is no hiding the fact that Magomed Adiyev's men have lost four of their last five matches.
That said, having gained Nations League promotion thanks to a run of one defeat in six games, Kazakhstan are expected to make light work of San Marino, heaping more misery on the microstate outfit.
Team News
Twenty-one players from San Marino's 26-man squad play their trade in the Sanmarinese domestic league, while Dante Rossi, Simone Franciosi, Filippo Fabbri, Nicola Nanni and Filippo Berardi are the only exceptions.
Remarkably, the 23 outfield players have just eight international goals between them, with captain Matteo Vitaioli managing a solitary goal in 83 appearances for his country.
La Serenissima have an experienced squad, as eight players have more than 40 caps to their name, although six players are aged 35 or over, including 40-year-old defender Roberto Di Maio.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan will be without the suspended Abat Aymbetov on Friday, as the forward picked up a red card after scoring the winning goal in March's triumph against Denmark.
Having scored 11 goals in 28 international appearances, CSKA Moscow star Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov is expected to join Abzal Beysebekov and Askhat Tagybergen in a three-man midfield.
With Magomed Adiyev likely to deploy a 5-3-2 formation, the Astana duo of Abat Aymbetov and Elkhan Astanov look set to occupy the visitors' forward line, hoping to exploit San Marino's leaky defence.
San Marino possible starting lineup:
Benedettini; Fabbri, Rossi, Cevoli; D'Addario, Golinucci, Battistini, Lunadei, Vitaioli; Nanni, Berardi
Kazakhstan possible starting lineup:
Shatskiy; Gabyshev, Malyi, Marochkin, Alip, Vorogovskiy; Zaynutdinov, Beysebekov, Tagybergen; Astanov, Aymbetov
We say: San Marino 0-3 Kazakhstan
San Marino invariably aim to avoid defeat instead of going all out to win, meaning that Fabrizio Costantini will likely set his team up for another damage-limitation job on Friday.
Given that San Marino have scored a solitary goal in their previous 11 outings, Kazakhstan look destined to claim a clean-sheet victory over the world's lowest-ranked national team.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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