Luxembourg welcome Iceland to Luxembourg Stadium this Friday in match day five of the UEFA Euros Qualifiers. Both Luxembourg and Iceland need a win to be within touching distance of the last qualification spot and the chance to play in the Euros.
Luxembourg currently sit in third in Group J with seven points. In the four games they've played, Luxembourg have two wins, one draw and one loss. Along with the point deficit, Luxembourg also have a negative goal difference having conceded six goals but only scoring four.
Slovakia were the first opponents for Luxembourg in this qualifying campaign. Luxembourg only managed two shots on target and 48% of the possession as they played out a 0 - 0 draw with Slovakia. However, the first home game for Luxembourg would be one to forget. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace along with goals from Joao Felix, Bernardo Silva, Otavio and Rafael Leao gave Portugal the dominant 6 - 0 win with Luxembourg managing just one shot on target. In the middle of the Qualifiers, Luxembourg played Malta in a friendly, where a goal from Kyrian Nwoko gave Malta the 1 - 0 win. The one win for Luxembourg came against Liechtenstein. Sinani and Gerson Rodrigues both scored in the second half to seal a 2 - 0 win.
Luxembourg’s last outing in the group was a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite having just 33% of the possession, Yvandro Borges Sanches and Danel Sinani both scored in a 2 - 0 win for Luxembourg.
Iceland find themselves fifth in Group J after four games. With just one win and three losses, Iceland have only three points to their name, seven points back from the last qualification spot.
The first game of Iceland’s campaign was a big upset. Rade Krunic scored twice along with a goal from Amar Dedic to give Bosnia and Herzegovina the impressive 3 - 0 win despite Iceland having 63% of the possession. However, Iceland redeemed themselves with their performance against Liechtenstein. Davio Olafsson, Hakon Haraldsson, Andri Guojohnsen and Mikael Ellertsson all scored, with Aron Gunnarsson bagging a hattrick in the 7 - 0 win. Though Iceland would once again be on the losing side against Slovakia. Juraj Kucka opened the scoring in the first half, though Alfreo Finnbogason did convert a penalty before halftime to tie the match. However, Tomas Suslov scored late on to win the game 2 - 1 for Slovakia.
Iceland’s most recent game came against Portugal. Willum Willumsson received his second yellow card of the game and was dismissed. Just nine minutes later Cristiano Ronaldo would score in the 89th minute to grab the 1 - 0 win for Portugal.
Luxembourg and Iceland have met just seven times before, but the fixture first started back in 1976 and was most recently played in 2009. Iceland have won on four occasions with Luxembourg never winning but grabbing a draw three times, including most recently.