Belgium will host Sweden in Group F after sealing their place in Euro 2024 last week. The Red Devils are already making preparations for the championship game next summer. The Swedish team must win and hope that Austria loses in Azerbaijan.
Preview (Belgium vs. Sweden)
Romelu Lukaku holds the record for most goals scored. He scored the decisive third goal shortly before the hour on Friday. It helped Belgium defeat Austria 3-2 to secure its place in next year’s European Championship. The top two teams in Group F faced in Vienna knowing that a win would guarantee them a ticket. The Belgians built on an early lead when Dodi Lukebakio scored his second goal just after halftime. Lukaku appeared to have put them out of reach. Despite this, the Red Devils now sit atop the table with 16 points after five victories and one loss.
Domenico Tedesco’s team leads third-placed Sweden by about 10 points. Since their disappointing group-stage departure from the 2022 World Cup, Belgium has won six of its first seven games under Tedesco. Belgium rematches with opponents they easily defeated in March. They are taking their first step toward achieving a coveted top-two finish. Sweden must simply reverse the outcome of the reverse match from last spring. Sweden will almost surely need to hope for a playoff slot in order to avoid missing the Euros. It will be the first time since 1996 after losing both at home and on the road to Austria. If the Austrians win in Baku, they will guarantee their placement in the top two of Group F.
Andersson, who guided his team to a 3-1 friendly victory against Moldova on Thursday, is under extreme pressure to turn around such a dire scenario after also watching Sweden miss out on the World Cup last year. However, it might already be too late to make a change by the time they encounter group underdogs Estonia and Azerbaijan in November.
Team News
Domenico Tedesco, the manager of Belgium, may be planning to rotate his team a little after securing Euro 2024 qualification with two games remaining, but his options have been limited by an expanding list of absentees. Following his ejection on Friday, Amadou Onana is now required to serve a ban. Leandro Trossard and Ameen Al-Dakhil, both players from the Premier League, withdrew from the initial squad due to injuries, and goalkeeper Koen Casteels was sent home due to illness. Naturally, veteran players Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois are still out of the lineup, and the latter’s absence should help Strasbourg goalkeeper Matz Sels beat out opposition from Thomas Kaminski and Arnaud Bodart to start in goal.
With nine goals from six games, the Roma loanee leads the Euro 2024 qualification standings; but, on Monday night, either Lens attacker Lois Openda or Michy Batshuayi might fill in. Sweden, meanwhile, returns to full strength following the selection of an experimental starting XI for the friendly match against Moldova. Following the defeat to Austria last month, Janne Andersson has banned a number of players, including Isak Hien and Jesper Karlstrom. Alexander Isak, Newcastle United’s record signing, is also out with a thigh injury. Andersson has already moved back to the traditional Swedish 4-4-2 formation after an earlier attempt to abandon it earlier this year was unsuccessful, and he’ll undoubtedly use it once more in Belgium.
Belgium 1 – 0 Sweden
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