In the battle of Euro 2024 they enter Belgium with the Slovakiawith the two teams facing off in Frankfurt at 19:00 (ERT1, News Bulletin 247) for their Group 5 opener.
Two teams with completely different goals and few encounters between them in the past, having met in just 3 games (Belgium 1 win and 2 draws).
Only his 6th appearance Belgium in the final phase of the European Championship, her best moments being 3rd place in 1972 and 2nd in 1980. Since then and until now she has reached the quarter-finals but no further, although in several tournaments she goes as one of the favourites. On the other hand, Slovakia as an independent state it counts just two appearances and those in the two most recent tournaments (2016, 2021). Finished 3rd in the group both times, once making it to the last 16 when they were eliminated by Germany.
The Belgium finished in first place in Group 6, ahead of Austria, Sweden, Azerbaijan and Estonia. In fact, she was unbeaten with 6 wins and 2 draws, scoring the awesome number of 22 goals! On her part, Slovakia finished second in their group in the qualifiers, behind only Portugal who scored 10/10. It left behind Luxembourg, Bosnia, Iceland and Liechtenstein, having a 7-1-0 record against them, and comfortably finished 2nd.
POSSIBLE ELEVENS:
BELGIUM: Castells – Castanier, Faes, De Kuyper, Debast – Tielemans, De Bruyne, Mangala – De Ketelar, Lukaku, Doku.
SLOVAKIA: Dubravka – Pekaric, Vavro, Skriniar, Hanko – Lobotka, Duda, Kutska – Haraslin, Bozenic, Strands.
Referee: Halil Umut Meller
Stadium: “Frankfurt Park” (58,000)
Source: Sport Fm
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