I'm only commenting on games that I watched so far. For most other games I don't know even the result yet as I'll watch several replays. I was impressed with Finland. They are actually quite a decent team. They look better as a team on the pitch than their team looks on paper. They play a very similar brand of football of Iceland 2014 - 2018. They make up for some individual shortcomings with a lot of determination, physical strenght, willingness to run a lot and most importantly they are very good at transission and very direct when they go to the opposite goal. Pukki was very lively, scored twice and missed also three one-on-ones. They missed Hradecky yesterday their goalkeeper. The 2nd goal conceded by Finland was arguably savable. I don't know if Finland has enough to get eventually 2nd in their group but they are in with a shout no doubt. We should definately keep an eye on this team as a potential surprise team at the EUROs this summer. Other game I watched so far was Latvia-Montenegro. It was closer than I thought. But only score wise. Montenegro was the dominating side throughout the game. Latvia made the most of their limited cappabilities which was to sit back and wait for errors and counter attacks. Jovetic is still a high quality player and was decisive once again for his country. You could see how relieved Montenegro was when they scored the winner. They saw this first game already as kind of a final. If they want to have any chance for a possible playoff spot they need to be perfect against the two lesser sides Latvia and Gibraltar. I don't think this team is deep enough on quality to do so but they can spring a surprise here and there. Guys like Jovetic, Savic and Marusic are quality after all. They won't go down easily to the Netherlands, Turkey and Norway. That's what I can tell you.
France 1-1 Bosnia France looked very much in control of this for about 30 minutes, they had some chances and of course that beautiful goal by Griezmann. But it was an individual work from him. After 30 minutes the game levelled and France didn't do much in order to push for a 2nd goal. Ukraine's goal was a deflected shot from about outside of the box. They had no goal-scoring chances up to that point. Surprisingly France couldn't step up their game after the equalizer. Ukraine was very tight at the back and left no space for Mbappe & Co. The French attacking players weren't mobile, not active enough. Ukraine have shown numerious times that they can get results against big nations. So it can't be considered a shock even though I went with a 3-0 for France as I though that the current holders would put on a very strong performance for the opener and Ukraine haven't been good on the road as of late. France's struggles in 1st games of World Cup qualfying continues by the way. 2010 they lost away to Austria 3-1, 2014 they defeated Finland 1-0 on the road and 2018 they drew 0-0 away against a lowly Belarus side. This point for Ukraine will prove to be very valuable in my opinion. It gives them the possibility to fight with France for direct qualification. And if not they have at least a small advantage against Finland and Bosnia as of now. After having watched Bosnia yesterday I can't see them getting any points from France. I don't believe they can set up the way Ukraine did and defend very well with such a good organisation. They are not so disciplined. Props to Shevchenko. He's a good manager. I would rate even Finland's chances to do something against France higher than Bosnia's. I always felt that this Group D would be worth watching and observing closely. It's one of the most interesting groups in my opinion.
Portugal 1-0 Azerbaijan The game was decided only by an own goal. Gianni de Biasi is Azerbaijan's coach. That Italian guy that qualified my country Albania to our first-ever major tournament with EURO 2016. Obviously I'm familiar with him and his very defensive approach. He's doing the same with Azerbaijan. I was relatively modest and expected a 2-0/3-0 scoreline. Wasn't too off. This is the perfect example of outsiders holding powerhouses to low-scoring affairs in qualfying. Something we might see a few times in this March international window. It will be interesting to see if the likes of Serbia and Ireland will be able to break down this team.
Belguim 3-1 Wales Good night for Belguim. They won and could afford to slow down for the major part in the 2nd half in order to save energy for the Czechia away game. Wales scored early on with a quick attack where they played it directly. The goal came when Belguim's high pressing failed and Wales took advantage of the gaps in midfield. However Belguim responded very quickly. They are now a much better side when they last lost to Wales at the EUROs in 2016. They turned it around in just a few minutes. I was a bit dissappointed by Wales in the 2nd half. They didn't have the guts to press Belguim higher up the pitch. We saw a pretty eventless 2nd half and Belguim didn't do more than needed and saw off the game very easily. Noteworthy was also Joe Allen's injury in the 1st half. It was his first cap for Wales after more than a year. Devastating for him.
Serbia 3-2 Ireland It was a slow start by Serbia. They needed to concede first in order to wake up. End of the 1st half they found into the game and dominated the game from then on until the end. An individual mistake brought Ireland back in to the game for the last minutes. It was generelly a high paced game. Not used to see Serbia with such an intensity. There's definately already an impact to be seen due to the new coach Dragan Stojkovic. It looks like they set their focus much less on tactics with the new coach. It looks like the main point Stojkovic changed is the commitment of the players. The players should just go out and give it their all. I was on a Serbia win until I saw the line-ups. A weird line up with several new players especially in midfield, no Milinkovic-Savic changed my mind. But it has worked and can be understood as a sign to the bigger names that they don't walk into the line up anymore by default. Anyway Serbia-Portugal will be very interesting. Ireland after this loss has their work cut out. Personally I don't expect much from them. It's one of their weakest squads in a long time. A result on the 1st matchday was always going to be very vital for their chances in this group and they didn't get it.
Also, what must be mentioned is that Ukraine was missing some of our most creative players (Yarmolenko, Konoplyanka, and Tsyhankov). Still, France should have been favorites for this match-up. Ukraine did what we do best - disciplined and well-organized at the back we made sure that France have to be 100% to break through. Portugal learned it the hard way in Qualification for Euro 2020. Shevchenko knows well what this side has and what it does not. Not related to anything above - somehow, we frequently run into holders in the qualification...
Slovenia 1-0 Croatia What a performance by Slovenia. They completely shut down Croatia's offense. Croatia hit the post at the beginning but other than that there wasn't much of a danger from them. Very spirited effort by Slovenia. Matjaz Kek has them very well drilled. They had also a very good transission whenever they won the ball. They looked already better in the Nations League. They set the goal to peak in this qualfying. He's a manager that knows how to get results with limited ressources. He did it with Rijeka in the Croatian league. If Slovenia can play like this they can be very hopefull for their campaign. Croatia had no real striker on the pitch because Petkovic was injured. You could feel it. Croatia's away struggles continue. They won only a single away game in competitive fixtures after the World Cup. Obviously all teams facing them are highly motivated. Then there's also the fact that Croatia lost quality after several retirements and their center-back duo is getting older. This is what you get. Croatia have probably more depth in their current team but the quality of the starting eleven in Russia was undoubtedly higher. Fun fact. It was Slovenia's first ever victory over Croatia in 10 games.
So far I'm doing not very bad but also not very good with my predictions. I do it only for fun after all. It's very hard to predict games early on when you haven't seen a lot of the the teams in action. Then there are several new coaches. A new qualfying campaign offers always a new opportunity. Nations that didn't do so well in the previous cycle can do well now and vice versa.
Israel 0-2 Denmark Israel didn't live up to my expactations. I always knew that it would be tough for them against the Danes. Especially with some home crowd on the stands I thought they could make it noneoftheless a good game. At the start of the 2nd half it didn't look too bad. But they couldn't capitalise on their chances and Denmark finished it off. This game shows me that it is a bridge too far for them to realistically think over a playoff spot. They could still surprise some teams on their day but that's it. Denmark didn't even played their best. They were sloppy at times. Goes just to show what a good team they are. They are one of the best of the non powerhouse nations.
Predictions Andorra 0-3 Albania Germany 4-0 Iceland England 7-0 San Marino Italy 2-0 Northern Ireland Liechtenstein 0-2 Armenia Moldova 0-0 Faroe Islands Romania 2-2 North Macedonia Scotland 0-1 Austria Sweden 3-0 Georgia Spain 1-0 Greece Hungary 1-1 Poland
It's an open game. Either result is very thinkable. I hold Austria in high regard. I'm sure they get at least a draw out of this. Sabitzer won't play unfortunately.
Another great night of action. Results like Scotland 2:2 Austria and Romania 3:2 North Macedonia have the feeling that they will weigh heavily in the final standings.
Was one of those games nought going right for Portugal. Could of finished 6 - 0 29 shots on goal but keeper decided to play like super man
Italy 2-0 Northern Ireland Italy was in total controle in the 1st half and scored two goals. It was only just before the hour mark where Northern Ireland had some chances. Italy's win was never in doubt. I said it already before. This Italian team doesn't have THE big names but their hunger to succeed is remarkable and Mancini has built something special. The team chemistry is good, the pressing works and the squad has got some depth. Northern Ireland didn't look too bad defensively. They must work on the offensive part of the game if they want to upset the Swiss. Spain 1-1 Greece This is one of those where the scoreline is quite misleading. We saw once again a pretty lame Spain that didn't looked sharp in the final third. They had tons of possession but made not so much of it. Greece were ultra defensive. It was ugly to watch. They couldn't string together 3-4 pass over the whole game. They were very lucky to escape with a point. Spain hit the crossbar one time. They were in my opinion also denied by a penalty. Greece on the other hand got a penalty that wasn't justifed in my opinion. I think it's a fluke result for Greece and they won't pose much of a threat for Sweden and Spain when it comes to who finishes 1st and 2nd. Romania 3-2 North Macedonia This was a very entertaining game. Both sides had a lot of chances. We could have seen a 5-4 result. Ulimtaely I think Romania was exactly that one goal better in this game. They are some glimpses of hope with some of the very good young generation starting to push into the team. North Macedonia has a good midfield. However they lack good players in the defending department. This is why they can't beat nations that are even slightly above their level. Bulgaria 1-3 Switzerland I haven't watched the full game but gosh what a crap has Bulgaria become over the years. 3-0 down after only 12 minutes at home ! They won't challenge for the top two places whatsoever. Switzerland made a very good start to their campaign. Germany 3-0 Iceland As expected Germany with an easy win here. They had to redeem themselves for the shamfeul display against Spain in the Nations League. They scored early on twice and dominated the whole game. Like several other teams they took the foot off the pedal in the last half an hour. I saw Lars Lagerbäck on the sideline. It seems Iceland brought him back. But as technical adviser not as a coach. Iceland plays still mostly with the crop of players of their golden generations 2014-2018. The majority of their players are clearly past 30. And they are past it to be honest. I miss the spark these days in their team. And if they are on top of that deprived of their best player Sigurdsson then things doesn't look bright at all. Scotland 2-2 Austria Scotland did alright I have to say. Austria was a bit dissappointing. They were without Sabitzer and it was felt as they barely had any players on the pitch who were able to dribble past a Scottish player. Netheless they had the lead twice but whenever they were in the lead they started to stumble. Kalajdzic scored a brace in only his 3rd cap. He could be the solution to their goalscoring issues. Hungary 3-3 Poland This was a crazy game. Hungary is one of those teams that are on the up since the Nations League. They don't have more than a handful good players but they are a side whose sum is more than its parts. Poland was the more active team but Hungary looked always very dangerous on the break. Lewandowski was everywhere on the pitch. In midfield he helped to build the attacks, in one moment he was even helping in defence. Unfamiliar to see him dropping that deep. In Bayern he's more the typical poacher. Poland will be happy to have rescued a point. It was very important for their chances in this group with England. Hungary in the worst case can rely on the Nations League in order to get to the playoffs if they don't make it into the top two.
Israel - Denmark was so far the only game with a crowd. I guess it's because a large part of the population got already vaccinated. Looking forward to Russia - Slovenia in a few hours. Slovenia was one of the most impressive sides in Matchday 1. Will be intetesting to see if they can back up their win against Croatia with a draw in Russia. I guess we'll see also some home crowd?! At least in UEFA club competitions Russian teams had fans at the stands. Probably the same with Ukraine - Finland. Other than than it looks like all games are behind closed doors this month.
My record of Predictions for Matchday 1 16/25 correct = 64% It's ok. I could have done better. There were several games where I was close to go with other outcomes which would have turned out to be right. Namely Turkey-Nethetlands, Cyprus-Slovakia, Serbia-Ireland, Israel-Denmark, Romania-North Macedonia. For the others I was wrong fair and square.
Russia with early control of its group after beating Slovenia 2:1. A potentially significant game starting shortly between Norway and Turkey!
Predictions Belarus 4 - 2 Estonia Croatia 2 - 1 Cyprus Netherlands 3 - 0 Latvia Norway 3 - 1 Turkey I know the Turkish mentality very well. After a huge win they tend to falter in the next game. The game will be played in Spain. I think today could be the rebirth of the Norway National Team. If Turkey wins (contrary to my expectation) they would be absolutely in the driver's seat in this group.
I'm really impressed with Turkey, they're on a good path to qualify for the first time since 2002 if I'm not mistaken.
I didn't like to say! lol Turkey indeed in the driver's seat, and if I'm not mistaken they qualified for euro2020 with a game to spare, so they seem to be developing a great team again. Italy take note ahead of the euro2020 opener!