Iceland vs Bosnia & Herzegovina

Iceland and Bosnia & Herzegovina are set to trade tackles in a must-win Euro 2024 qualifying fixture at Laugardalsvöllur.

Iceland’s bid to return to a major international tournament for the first time since 2018 and secure only their second-ever European Championship qualification suffered a knockout blow last time out. Age Hareide’s underachievers slumped to a disastrous 3-1 defeat at Luxembourg in their first international this month, making it four losses from five Euro 2024 qualifiers (W1). Having lost their last three qualifying games in a row, it’s no wonder the ‘Our Boys’ start this round a whopping seven points adrift of Group J runners-up Slovakia. With only five matches left, including an ominous-looking trip to Portugal, Iceland’s chances of closing the gap look fat-fetched. Playing at home won’t guarantee points for the hosts, given they’ve lost both Group J fixtures on home soil via a single-goal margin.

In the meantime, Bosnia & Herzegovina eked out a 2-1 home triumph over continental minnows Liechtenstein a few days ago, arresting a dreadful three-match losing Euro 2024 qualifying streak and keeping their faint hopes of catching up with Slovakia alive. However, four points stand between Bosnia and their maiden European Championship qualification as an independent nation, highlighting the importance of winning in Reykjavík. Despite crushing Iceland 3-0 in the reverse fixture in March, playing on the road will make it immensely more difficult for the Bosnians to replicate that result, considering they’re winless on their last seven international travels (D3, L4), not to mention scoreless in the most recent two. With each of their three Group J defeats coming by 2+ goals ‘to nil,’ another potential loss could be a painful one.