EURO 2024 Qualifying..........
Nov 16, 2023
Luxembourg- Bosnia & Herzegovina
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal (Q) |
8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 2 | +30 | 24 | Qualify for final tournament | — | 3–2 | 9–0 | 19 Nov | 3–0 | 4–0 | |
| 2 | Slovakia (Z) |
8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 16 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 16 Nov | 2–0 | 3–0 | ||
| 3 | Luxembourg (X) |
8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 18 | −10 | 11 | 0–6 | 0–1 | — | 3–1 | 16 Nov | 2–0 | ||
| 4 | Iceland |
8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 10 | +5 | 10 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | 4–0 | ||
| 5 | Bosnia and Herzegovina (A) |
8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 9 | Advance to play-offs via Nations League | 0–5 | 19 Nov | 0–2 | 3–0 | — | 2–1 | |
| 6 | Liechtenstein (E) |
8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 25 | −24 | 0 | 16 Nov | 0–1 | 19 Nov | 0–7 | 0–2 | — |
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated; (Q)
These two teams have already qualified for the play-off round, Luxembourg can still qualify directly, but need to win their two remaining games and hope that Slovakia lose both of theirs, unlikely, but a chance is a chance. Even if this was a 100% friendly, I would argue that the hosts had more at stake, as firstly they are at home and secondly they are improving and trying to up their profile after decades in the football wilderness and every victory is probably seen as one step forward. They also won 2-0 in the reverse fixture .
Ahead of their home win over Iceland I spoke about what was going on in terms of development at the Luxembourg Football Federation......
The Golden Generation, to be followed by the next............
There was a time, fairly recently, when I would not have considered backing Luxembourg against Iceland, or almost anyone else for that matter, let alone rate them a strong suggestion, but even a week is a long time in politics and sport and things change quickly. Iceland have just two players in their squad who are from the top five European leagues and are FIFA ranked 67, from an all time high of 18 five years ago. They have played 41 games in the last three years and won just 7, five of which were against San Marino ranked #208, Liechtenstein #200 three times (can we play you every week?) and Faroe Islands #129, the only win against a half decent opponent was at home and came almost the full three years ago and in two subsequent h2h starts they have failed to score, losing 2-0 in Reykjavik.
For Luxembourg it is a very different story, they are ranked #89 by FIFA which might not sound that great, but it is very close to their highest ever ranking and this is a nation used to failure on the football, however, a very strong feeling that this is all about to change and this might only only be the birth of a golden generation of players and a second or third might follow. This was a project long in fruition and two decades ago they started a plan to get more players involved in professional leagues in countries surrounding their own. Then, in 2015, Philipp Metz, the president of their FA said "with the heavy influx of refugees from around the world, we now have a golden opportunity to take our team to a level that has never been dreamed of by Luxembourgers." They immediately started try-out sessions in refugee camps across the county and Metz added: " We have learned from our neighbours in Germany, Belgium and France, who have already built squads around talented foreign-born players. " We are working diligently with the Ministry of Immigration to expedite the naturalization of those who display extraordinary talent for the beautiful game."
It sounds a bit manipulative in black and white and not exactly organic, but they tried to fast track the process and it's hard to say that it is unlikely to work and I feel we can expect them to break into the top 50 at some stage. Most of the current squad have already found their way to top level clubs, especially in Germany , where seven, all aged between 17-23 play for Bundesliga.1 teams and another four youngsters in the second tier, this is the first wave and most were born in the country, the crop pushing up behind them include not just the refugee influx, but the next generation of Luxembourg players inspired by the current crop and the future looks promising. The size of the country limits them to some degree, but the population is now 47.2% non Luxembourgers and in any case, almost double that of Iceland. Luxembourg have kept clean sheets in 3/4 group stage games including away to Slovakia (0-0) and Bosnia & Herzegovina ( 2-0 win) and have lost only to Portugal in 7 competitive starts. They have a great chance to take this down to the wire in terms of qualifying if they can win today and go toe to toe with Slovakia(whom they still have to host) to progress along with very likely section winners Portugal. Regardless of result, a nation on the up and one we can keep an eye on.
2 units Luxembourg -0.25 ball 2.37 asian line.
Good luck!
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