Faroe Islands vs North Macedonia Prediction: 7/9/2024

In the previous edition of the UEFA Nations League, the Faroe Islands managed to maintain their status without too much difficulty. They comfortably finished ahead of Lithuania but had to settle for third place in the group, behind Turkey and Luxembourg.

However, their performance in the Euro 2024 qualifiers was far less impressive. Finishing last in their group with just two points from eight matches, they lagged behind teams like Albania, Czechia, Poland, and Moldova. In their most recent fixtures in June, the Faroe Islands were defeated in both of their Baltic Cup matches, losing 4-1 to Estonia and 1-0 to Latvia.

Similarly, North Macedonia also secured third place in their Nations League C group during the last edition. However, they fared slightly better in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, finishing fourth in Group C behind England, Italy, and Ukraine. They managed to collect eight points from eight games, which put them ahead of Malta. In their friendly matches earlier this year, North Macedonia drew 1-1 with Moldova but lost 0-1 to Montenegro, 3-0 to Croatia, and 2-1 to Czechia.

For the Faroe Islands, defender Nattestad (B36) was not called up, having been absent from the squad since November 2023. Most of their players, such as defender Andrias Edmundsson (Wisla Plock) and veteran forward Joan Simun Edmundsson (8 goals in 90 caps), who plays in North Macedonia, are relatively unknown and primarily compete in Scandinavian leagues.

On the North Macedonian side, reserve goalkeeper Iliev (UTA) had to withdraw, and they also faced the international retirement of standout midfielder Arijan Ademi (Dinamo Zagreb).

Despite this, they still boast players from prominent leagues, including goalkeeper Dimitrievski (Valencia), defender Manev (Adana Demirspor), and midfielders like Bardhi (Trabzonspor), Elmas (Leipzig), and Elezi (Bochum). In attack, they have Miovski (Girona), as well as versatile players like Alioski (formerly of Leeds), Churlinov (Jagiellonia, ex-Cologne, Stuttgart, Schalke, Burnley), and Trajkovski (Hajduk Split, ex-Palermo and Mallorca).

 

Prediction

Recent trends suggest this will be a low-scoring affair. Ten of the last 12 Faroe Islands matches in the UEFA Nations League have featured two or fewer goals, and eight of North Macedonia’s last 10 away games at this level have also followed a similar pattern. Given these statistics, it would be surprising if more than two goals are scored in this important fixture.

Prediction: Faroe Islands 0-0 North Macedonia