Friday’s Euro 2024 Qualifying Predictions: France set to make a winning start

Tom Collins

23 March 2023

Nations in Group B, E, F and G will begin their Euro 2024 qualification on Friday - and what better way to start the weekend than with a winning accumulator? Four selections incoming.

Czech Republic v Poland

Kick-off: 7.45pm Friday

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the finals of this competition, so Poland and Czech Republic will fancy their chances of advancing. They were drawn into Group E from pots 1 and 2 respectively and will only need to accumulate more points than Albania, Faroe Islands and Moldova to get through to the main event in 2024.

As a result, this opening fixture should be pretty cagey as both teams look to avoid an early defeat. Czech Republic are narrowly favoured to get all three points but they lack a creative midfielder who can break down an extremely defensive Polish side, who generally leave star striker Robert Lewandowski isolated up top and often struggle for a cutting edge themselves.

Seven of the last eight games involving the Poles have produced under 2.5 goals - the only exception was a 3-1 defeat by France that featured two extra-time strikes in last year’s World Cup. While 11 out of 19 Czech games since June 2021 have suffered the same fate.

Prediction: Under 2.5 goals @ 1.86

France v Netherlands

Kick-off: 7.45pm Friday

France have had just 95 days to recover from their heartbreaking World Cup Final defeat at the hands of Argentina. Penalty misses from Aurelien Tchouameni and Kingsley Coman cost Les Bleus a famous success in Qatar, and it will be interesting to see how this group performs in their first game back together.

The key news coming into the game is that Kylian Mbappe has been handed the captaincy at the age of just 24. France’s star striker was almost unplayable at times during the World Cup and should prove a handful once again given his new responsibilities.

On recent evidence, France should have far too much firepower for a Netherlands side that will be without Sven Botman and Cody Gakpo. They too crashed out against Argentina, though at the earlier quarter-final stage, but they previously failed to impress in matches against Ecuador and the USA and look a group of talented individuals rather than a collaborative team.

Prediction: France to win @ 1.8

Moldova v Faroe Islands

Kick-off: 7.45pm Friday

I’m sure you will be tuning into this absolute cracker, right? Moldova begin their group stage matches against Faroe Islands in a scrap that might have little consequence come the end of qualification. I’m not going to profess to know much about either side, but I’ve done a fair bit of digging and have now convinced myself that the away side represents good value.

Faroe Islands were ranked as low as 170th in the world just 10 years ago, but they have slowly progressed and now sit 37 places higher thanks to a number of surprising results. They are currently unbeaten in their last four matches and famously defeated Turkey when they were last seen in competitive action. They also beat Moldova 2-1 back in September 2021, which bodes well.

Meanwhile, Moldova is on a downward curve and they were stuffed 5-0 at home by Romania back in November. They have won just one of their last 20 Euro qualifiers (note the -34 goal difference) and they regularly fail to keep clean sheets against sides of similar potency. This isn’t a game for the neutral, but I’ll be backing the Faroes to come out on top.

Prediction: Faroe Islands to win @ 2.9

Sweden v Belgium

Kick-off: 7.45pm Friday

There were high hopes for Belgium’s golden generation, but it’s fair to say that they never reached the level many expected. Despite possessing a number of world class talents, Belgium couldn’t even make it out of the group stage at last year’s World Cup. Dressing room fallouts made the news and manager Roberto Martinez was subsequently sacked.

This match against Sweden begins the tenure of Italian boss Domenico Tedesco, who formerly managed Spartak Moscow (2019-21) and RB Leipzig (2021-22). He has several prolific goalscorers at his mercy as well as one of the best midfielders in the world, but a defence full of leggy veterans is sure to be a huge concern moving forward.

Talking of veterans, 41-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic earned a call-up for Sweden for this set of matches and he will look to get on the scoresheet in front of the home fans. Unlike most other national sides, the Swedes have already played two games in 2023 (they won both) and should have a tactical edge over their rivals. Who will win this match? I don’t know. But I do think there will be goals at both ends.

Prediction: Both teams to score - Yes @ 1.9