Our prediction for this Euro 2024 match:
Iceland
Match Time & Date:
17/06/2023
01:45 PM
Prediction: 0-0
Slovakia
Saturday’s football game at Laugardalsvollur pits together Iceland and Slovakia, the two teams who meet for the first time in a competitive match. The Icelanders aim to build on a splendid 7-0 win over Liechtenstein, but beating Slovakia is easier said than done. Arnar Vidarsson is unlikely to make changes to the team that hammered Liechtenstein in March.
The Slovaks, on the other hand, proved their worth in a 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina and you should know that they are eyeing their fourth consecutive clean sheet in all competitions. A man to watch in the away team will be midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, who helped Napoli win their first Scudetto since 1990 with his brilliant performances. Anyhow, a close encounter is on the cards in Reykjavik and we are tempted to put our money on draw this time out.
Highlighted Player (Stanislav Lobotka):
Born in Trencin on November 25, 1994, Stanislav Lobotka is a Slovakia international who plays for Celta Vigo in La Liga. Lobotka began his youth career at his hometown club AAC Sparta Trencin and he made his senior debut for fellow local club Trencin. In 2013 he signed a loan deal with Dutch side Ajax, but he played for Jong Ajax during the 2013/2014 season.
In the summer of 2014, the Slovakian midfielder returned to Trencin, where he made 74 appearances in the league in total. In 2015 Stanislav Lobotka joined Danish side Nordsjaelland shortly before the transfer window closed. Lobotka made his debut in the Danish top flight against Brondby on August 30, 2015.
Two years later he decided to make a step forward in his career, signing a five-year contract with La Liga side Celta Vigo. Speaking of his international career, the Celta Vigo midfielder made his Slovakia debut against Austria in November2016. It has to be noted that Lobotka became the first Slovak to score at Wembley, finding the net in a 2018 World Cup qualifier against England.
Highlighted Team (Iceland):
Iceland had little to no success during the first 60 years of entering the FIFA competitions, failing to qualify to a single major tournament in that period, but the team then went on to make tremendous progress at the start of the 21st century.
The Nordic side narrowly missed out on a place at the 2014 World Cup, losing in the play-off to Croatia, but they then enjoyed a thoroughly impressive qualifying campaign to reach the Euro 2016, taking 20 points from 10 matches to leave Turkey and Netherlands trailing in their wake.
As a result, the generation featuring players like Gylfi Sigurdsson, Aron Gunnarsson, Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Emil Hallfredsson will go down as one of the most successful in the national team history and it could be quite some time before another team repeat their success. Even if he was only used as a bit-part player during the Euro 2016 qualifiers, Eidur Gudjohnsen has got to be mentioned as the first Icelandic footballer to have played for top European sides.
Liverpool
Burnley
Tottenham
Brighton
AS Roma
Inter
Bayer Leverkusen
Bayern Munich 
Nottingham Forest 
Newcastle 
Real Madrid 
Girona
