Sweden - Czech Republic, Picks and Tips
Sweden is one of the toughest teams when they play their home games. Andersson's side came close to qualifying directly for the World Cup, but missed out in their group match against Spain, their main rivals. Next up is Sweden-Czech, the first leg of the play-off to qualify for the finals. The most recent match for the Nordics was at the end of 2021, in November. Then, Sweden lost 1-0 to Spain and lost first place in the group in the preliminaries. The only goal of the match was scored by Juventus striker Alvaro Morata in the 86th minute. Sweden also had a disastrous end to the preliminaries. The North Koreans surprisingly lost their duel in Georgia. The Grecians won the final 2-0 thanks to goals from Kvaratskhelia in the 61st and 77th minutes. Sweden's last win was on 12 October 2021 in a home match. It was against Greece. Andersson's side won 2-0 thanks to goals from Forsberg and Isak. So Sweden finished Group B of the World Cup preliminaries in second place with 15 points after eight matches. The North Koreans were four points behind group winners Spain.
The Czech Republic has lucked into this play-off for World Cup qualification. "Lokomotiva", as the central European national team is still nicknamed, finished third in a group that also included Belgium and Wales. Sweden-Czech represents a first opportunity for Thursday night's duel guests to reach the finals after a 16-year break. For the Czechs the decisive duel in the preliminaries was in November 2021. The Czechs managed to win the duel with Estonia, 2-0, and in a ranking of third-placed teams managed to reach the play-off. The goals in that match had been scored by Brabec and Sykora. Earlier, Chytry's side scored no fewer than seven goals in a friendly against Kuwait. In the World Cup qualifiers, the Czechs also managed a 2-0 win in Belarus, with Schick and Hlozek scoring both goals. The Czechs also drew 2-2 with Wales. Pesek and Ward's own goal put Chytry's side ahead, while Ramsey and James scored for the Welsh.
Our recommendation tip for Sweden - Czech Republic: SWEDEN TO WIN @ 2.00