Kosovo – Belarus

Kosovo footballers will take revenge for their first round defeat

The opponents in Pristina have not disgraced themselves in the current qualifying tournament, occasionally taking points from the favourites of Group I, but they have not created any "weather" here. In this regard, both teams approached the November qualifying matches without the slightest chance of being in the top 2. Before a personal meeting in the final round, Kosovo is two points ahead of Belarus, occupying the current fourth place and having the opportunity to displace Israel from the third. Recall that Romania and Switzerland have already qualified from this group, while Israel will have the right to participate in the knockout rounds. The first face-to-face meeting between the Pristina rivals took place in mid-June on a neutral pitch in Budapest. Then the teams played with the score 0:0 until the 73rd minute, but in the last quarter of the game they had fun. Within two minutes, the Belarusian squad scored two goals, with Muriki scoring a prestige goal from the penalty spot in the 87th minute - 2:1. Bookmakers have identified the hosts as the favorites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 1.58 on their victory. Kosovo in qualifying for the World Cup in 2021 could not compete with their rivals, becoming the last team in the company of Georgia, Greece, Sweden and Spain. The same Greece was an obstacle for the Kosovo team in last year's Nations League, which resulted in a second-place finish with three wins in six meetings. In the current qualifying tournament, Kosovo has lost only two away games. Apart from the described defeat against Belarus, the team lost in Romania. The remaining seven matches, including two with Switzerland, brought Kosovo players at least one point. Such a successful qualifying phase must end with a victory in front of their home fans. In the World Cup qualification in 2021, the Belarusian team finished last in one of the weakest qualifying groups, leaving behind even Estonia. The team's failures continued in 2022, when in the same company with Slovakia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, it failed to win once, dropping into League D to teams of Gibraltar and San Marino. In the current selection, Belarusians have not lost away only to Andorra and relaxed Switzerland. Most likely, they won't be able to pick up a single point in Pristina.