Latvia – North Macedonia

Guests in the status of favourites of the upcoming meeting will get a victory in it

A little more than twenty years ago, the Latvian national team qualified for a major tournament for the first and last time. It was the European Championship in Portugal, which sensationally ended with the triumph of Greece. Since then, the Latvians have slid down to the "third tier" of European football and now pose no threat to ambitious football teams. In Northern Macedonia, the level of football is better. To some extent, the Macedonians' position at the top of the group standings after two rounds confirms this thesis. North Macedonia has played all three previous Nations League games in League C, feeling quite harmonious here. Latvia, on the other hand, has only just got out of the "mire" of League D, where it played in the same company with Moldova, Andorra and Liechtenstein. Bookmakers have identified the visitors as favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 2.02 on their victory. In the above-mentioned D-League draw, the Latvians scored thirteen points out of a possible eighteen, leaving them in first place and heading for promotion. However, already the first rounds of the EURO 2024 qualifying stage showed the weakness of the Baltic national team at the level with serious European teams. In the group with Wales, Croatia, Armenia and Turkey, the team lost seven matches out of eight, taking the last place in the standings. Latvia started the new Nations League with a 1:4 defeat in Armenia, which was remembered for Dubra's auto-goal from outside their own penalty area. In the last round, the Latvians beat the Faroe Islands at home, allowing their dubious opponents ten shots on goal. North Macedonia did not participate in the European Championship this summer. In the same qualifying group with England, Italy and Ukraine, the national team had no chance to prove themselves. Moreover, in the last qualification match in Skopje, the Macedonians took points away from the future EURO finalists - the English. In the first round of the Nations League, the national team failed to take away a victory from the Faroe Islands (1:1), but in the second meeting they rehabilitated themselves by scoring two unanswered goals in the minority in Skopje. The Macedonians lead the group with a one-point advantage and will fight for victory against their direct rivals on Thursday.