Sweden – Belgium

The Scandinavian team will not lose at home

The main favourite in Group F of the European Championship qualifiers will begin their tournament journey on the outskirts of Stockholm. They will face Sweden at Friend's Arena, who, along with Austria, are regarded as rivals to the Belgians in the battle for two places at Euro 2024. Both teams have a negative backdrop to their recent results. While the Swedes are generally unlikely to have missed out on the World Cup, the Belgian side are in serious disgrace. The transfermarkt website estimates that the Swedish squad has a combined value of €248.7m ahead of the start of the new qualifying campaign. The Scandinavian side are placed 23rd in the FIFA rankings. The Belgians' transfer value is €513.8m, and their world ranking has dropped from second to fourth. What the opponents have in common is that around 90% of their players play outside their national championships. Before the meeting in Solna, bookmakers believe that Domenico Tedesco's charges are the favourites, offering odds of 2.14 to win. The Swedes have lost a lot of class and confidence after their shocking finish to World Cup qualifying. A late defeat to Georgia in the group stage eliminated the Swedes, while a defeat to Spain in the last game sent them into a disappointing play-off phase. Following the failure to qualify for Qatar, the Swedish team "blew it" in the Nations League. Their Ligue B clash with Norway, Serbia and Slovenia resulted in the Scandinavians finishing last and will play in Ligue C of the next draw. Belgium easily qualified for the World Cup. Following the departure of head coach Roberto Martinez, Domenico Tedesco is set to start building a new national squad. The Swedes have the opportunity to play a comfortable defensive style of play in their home arena. We're betting that the visitors won't take three points away from Solna.