THE European Championship qualifiers take centre stage for the next 10 days as France and The Netherlands square off today for the first time since their respective defeats to Argentina on penalties at the Qatar World Cup. Also today, high-flying Sweden will take on Belgium in an eagerly anticipated clash.

Event # 1 – EURO Qual – France vs The Netherlands– 2:45 pm

Two heavyweights will lock horns in the opening rounds of the Euro qualifying campaign when France and The Netherlands go head-to-head this afternoon. Both teams were impressive in the just-concluded World Cup and will be confident of advancing from a group that includes the likes of Greece, Gibraltar, and Ireland.

It’s been three months since France suffered heartbreak in the World Cup finals to Argentina, and a lot has changed with Kylian Mbappe now the new captain. Coach Didier Deschamps is aiming to win the one major trophy that has eluded so far during his tenure and France will start the game as slight favourites as at home they had won five of their last seven games prior to the World Cup, losing only to Croatia and Denmark during that period.

The Netherlands, following their defeat to Argentina at the World Cup, coach Luis Van Gaal stepped down and Ronald Koeman was appointed as the new manager for a second time in his career. The Dutch team, apart from the loss to Argentina, went the entire 2022 unbeaten, giving the new coach a solid platform to build on. Before losing to Argentina in Qatar, The Netherlands had gone 19 matches unbeaten with their last defeat a 2-0 loss to Czech Republic back in June 2021, and they will be aiming to lift the trophy they last won way back in 1988. With that said, fans should expect an exciting encounter with both teams ranked in the top six of the FIFA rankings.

KEY STATS

France – have won five of their last seven home matches in all competitions, while both teams have scored in five of France’s last seven matches.

The Netherlands – have been on the rise in recent times, as before losing to Argentina at the Qatar World Cup they had gone 19 matches unbeaten in all competitions — indeed The Netherlands haven’t lost a match outright since June 2021.

Both sides – last met in the Nations League back in 2018, with each winning at home. However, France have won five of the last six meetings against The Netherlands while the latter have scored just one goal in their last three away matches against France.

The betting tip: France win

Event # 2 EURO Qual – Sweden vs Belgium – 2:45 pm

After missing out on qualification for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, high-flying Sweden will be aiming to extend their winning run to five matches when they take on Belgium in their opening Euro qualifier match at home. Sweden’s most famous player, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is back in the Swedish squad at age 41 and will be eager to prove that he can still produce the goods on the international stage. Sweden have scored two or more goals during their four-match unbeaten run and have lost just twice at home in the past three years. Indeed, they will be looking to continue their excellent home form against a side that has failed to deliver on the big stage.

Belgium, on the other hand, failed to deliver on the grandest of stages once again. They did not progress from the group stage at the Qatar 2022 World Cup. They have reached the quarter-finals of each of the last two European championship finals, with their best performance in the competition coming back in 1980 when they finished as runners-up. The Belgians will begin a new era with coach Domenico Tedesco who replaced Roberto Martinez following their poor showing at the World Cup. With that said, the Red Devils, Belgium, still have the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku in their ranks and will be eager to give their fans something to cheer about to ease some of their pain from their poor World Cup campaign.

KEY STATS

Sweden – have won their last four games on the spin, scoring two goals apiece in these games. Sweden are playing their first game since January when they recorded a 2-1 win over Iceland in a friendly. Worryingly though, Sweden have not defeated Belgium at home since 1961.

Belgium – are unbeaten in their last four meetings against Sweden, winning three in a row and keeping three clean sheets during this run. They met in the group stages of the 2000 and 2016 editions of the Euro, with Belgium recording 2-1 and 1-0 wins, respectively.

Both sides –Belgium have the upper hand in the head-to-head record at the moment, with nine wins from 15 head-to-head encounters, their first meeting dating back to 1908 in a friendly.

The betting tip: Draw