Sweden travel to the King Baudouin Stadium this Monday to face Belgium in matchday eight of the UEFA Euro Qualifiers. Belgium needs a win to keep control of the group, whereas Sweden needs a win to even challenge for the final qualification place.
Belgium sit top of Group F after six games. With five wins and one draw, they are the only unbeaten team in the group and with 16 points, Belgium are three points clear of second place Austria.
In their last five games, Belgium have four wins and a draw. The first game against Austria ended in a share of the points. Micheal Gregoritsch opened the scoring for Austria in the first half, to which Romelu Lukaku equalised in the second half as the game ended 1 - 1. However, Belgium bounced back against Estonia. Lukaku grabbed a brace in the first half and along with a goal from Johan Bakayoko gave Belgium the 3 - 0 win.
Yannick Carrasco scored the only goal of the 1 - 0 win for Belgium over Azerbaijan, who Belgium only beat narrowly with just 55% of the possession. Another game against Estonia, and another Belgium thrashing. Jan Vertonghen, Leandro Trossard and Charles De Ketelaere along with another brace from Lukaku gave Belgium the 5 - 0 win over Estonia.
Belgium’s last time out was against Austria on Friday. Dodi Lukebakio grabbed a brace, with Lukaku scoring again to give Belgium a 3 - 0 lead. However Konrad Laimer and a penalty from Marcel Sabitzer put Austria back in it, especially when Amadou Onana was sent off for Belgium. However, Belgium held on for their 3 - 2 win.
Sweden currently sit third in Group F, with two wins and three losses. This leaves Sweden with six points, six points away from Austria in the final qualification spot.
In their last five games in all competitions, Sweden have three wins and two losses. In an international friendly, Sweden faced New Zealand. Callum McCowatt opened the scoring for New Zealand but a brace from Jesper Karlsson and goals from Robin Quaison and Anthony Elanga turned it around to give Sweden the 4 -1 win. However, Sweden were then brought back down against Austria. Christoph Baumgartner scored twice after the 80th minute to give Austria the 2 - 0 win.
The game against Estonia gave Sweden the opportunity to bounce back. Viktor Gyokeres, Dejan Kulusevski, Alexander Isak, Quaison and Viktor Claesson all scored in the 5 - 0 thrashing of Estonia who were restricted to six shots with zero on target. However, Sweden once again lost to Austria. A brace from Marko Arnautovic and a goal from Gregoritsch gave Austria the 3 - 1 win with Emil Holm scoring too late for Sweden to mount a comeback.
Sweden’s last time out was in an international friendly against Moldova. Karlsson grabbed a brace and was joined on the scoresheet by Gustaf Lagerbielke as Sweden won 3 - 1, with Ian Nicolaescu scoring for ten man Moldova as Artur Craciun was sent off late on.
Belgium and Sweden have faced each other 16 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming all the way back in 1908. Belgium have ten wins in the fixture whereas Sweden have just four wins, with the other two games ending in a draw.