Belarus travel to the Estadi Nacional to face Andorra in their fifth match of the UEFA Euro Qualifiers. Both Andorra and Belarus are far from the qualification spots with numerous wins needed to grab those spots, but a three point haul this weekend could shake up the table.
Andorra sit rock bottom in Group I with a single point to their name. In four games Andorra have one draw and three losses and leaves them two points away from fifth place Kosovo and seven points away from Romania in the last qualification spot.
Romania were the first visitors to Romania for the first game of the Qualifiers. Romania raced into a 2 - 0 lead through Dennis Man and Denis Alibec. Andorra’s comeback was then greatly hampered by Marc Rebes’ red card in the 61st minute. Andorra’s only point came from the match up against Kosovo. Edon Zhegrova drew first blood for Kosovo but Rosas scored just two minutes later to level the game 1 - 1 and gave Andorra the point. However, Andorra were back on the losing side with the visit from Switzerland. Remo Freuler and Zeki Amdouni both scored in the first half to give Switzerland the 2 - 0 lead. Marcio Vieira did score for Andorra but it wasn’t enough as Switzerland won 2 - 1.
The final outing for Andorra last international break was against Israel. Raz Shlomo opened the scoring for Israel to give them the 1 - 0 win going into halftime. Albert Rosas scored to level the game, but a goal from Manor Solomon gave Israel the 2 - 1 win.
Belarus, on the other hand, find themselves fourth in Group I. In four games Belarus have one win and three losses, leaving them with three points. Despite having three points, Belarus have the worst goal difference in the group, only scoring four goals and conceding ten.
The first game of Belarus’ qualifying campaign was against Switzerland. Renato Steffen grabbed a hattrick and goals from Granit Xhaka and Amdouni gave Switzerland the 5 - 0 win. The next loss was on the trip to Romania. Nicolae Stanciu and Andrei Burca gave Romania the 2 - 0 lead going into halftime. Though Vladislav Morozov scored late on, it didn’t give Belarus enough time to complete the comeback as they lost 2 - 1. Another 2 - 1 loss was next for Belarus as they hosted Israel. Ebong scored early for Belarus, but a late comeback from Israel through a penalty Shon Weissman in the 85th minute and a goal from Oscar Gloukh in added time gave them the 2 - 1 win.
Belarus’ last time out was against Kosovo. Morozov and Ebong scored within two minutes of each other to give Belarus the lead. Despite a late penalty from Vedat Muriqi, Belarus managed a 2 - 1 win.
Andorra and Belarus have met just four times, all of these meetings coming after 2000. Belarus have won on three occasions whereas Andorra have only won once with no draws between the two. Andorra’s only win came 23 years ago in the first ever meeting, though the last game between the two was in 2009.