Turkey – Iceland

The Turkish national team will be able to break the series of failures in the meetings with Iceland

The opponents for the upcoming match in Izmir play in League B in the same group as Wales and Montenegro. After a relatively good performance at the European Championships, the Turkish national team was considered the favourite in the quartet in the fight for promotion. However, after the opening round, the team has one point along with Wales, with Iceland topping the group. The islanders hosted Montenegro on Friday, scored one goal each against their opponents and kept their gates shut. The Icelanders were favourites for the meeting, but their confident style of victory deserves special attention from their closest rival. Turkey played their first Nations League match in Cardiff, from where they barely got away. Due to Barış Yılmaz's penalty in the 62nd minute, the Turks were outnumbered for more than half an hour and allowed their opponents to create several chances, which did not result in goals - 0:0. Bookmakers have identified the hosts as the favourites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 1.58 on their victory. Turkey held qualification at a high level last year, beating Croatia and Wales in their qualifying group. The continental championship itself turned out well for the Turks. At the group stage, they lost only to the Portuguese, but managed to defeat the tough Czechs and Georgians. In the first round of the play-offs Turkey "out-shot" Austria, and in the quarter-finals won the first half against the Netherlands. Unfortunately for Turkish fans, the team was unable to hold out and sneak into the final due to two unanswered goals by the Oranges in the second half. After a draw in Cardiff, Turkey must tune up for a home win over the group leader. Iceland have lost a lot at national team level in recent years. After flourishing in the second half of the last decade, the Icelanders failed to qualify for either the World Cup in Qatar or the Continental Championships in Germany. In both cases, the play-off matches were fatal for the islanders. The Turkish players have something to prove in the upcoming match, not only because of the loss of points in the first round. The Turks can't beat the Icelanders in four consecutive meetings. A meeting at home is the best opportunity to rectify the situation.