Iceland vs Romania: Group J underdogs to share points in a head-to-head encounter

Iceland and Romania faced each other a year ago when the Vikings qualified for the Euro 2020. Will the Romanians be able to take revenge? We believe that this time the opponents will share points.

Iceland’s best years in history are behind them. The generation that made it to Euro 2016 and then to the 2018 FIFA World Cup is gradually getting older, and the younger generation cannot maintain their previous level of play. And so it turns out that the Vikings have already blown past Euro 2020. However, they could have qualified there through the UEFA Nations League but lost in the final of the tie to Hungary 1-2, and now it is doubtful they will be able to qualify for the World Cup-2022. The reason is that Iceland started their qualifying with two straight defeats to Germany and Armenia - 0-3 and 0-2, respectively, before beating Liechtenstein 4-1 to finish bottom of the table.

Romania are a tough team that rarely fails to qualify, but they fall short of qualifying for a continental or world championship every time. They were unable to qualify for Euro 2020, although they qualified through the UEFA Nations League and got into the knockout stage, where they lost straight away to Iceland - 1-2. The Romanians started their FIFA World Cup 2022 qualification with a 3-2 victory against Northern Macedonia in the first leg, but then suffered two straight setbacks against Germany and Armenia, respectively 1-2 and 0-1, which dropped them to fourth place, almost eliminating their chances of qualifying for Qatar. However, only three games have been played so far.

Iceland and Romania have played three head-to-head games throughout their history. Both times, in the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Romania’s players triumphed with the same score of 4-0, while in the Euro 2020 qualifiers, Icelandic players were the stronger with a 2-1 victory.

The Icelandic and Romanian national teams had a very poor start to the World Cup-2022 qualifying, losing to Armenia and Germany, but still managed to win one match each. Yes, the Romanians put up more resistance than the Icelanders in the games they lost, but the upcoming meeting in Reykjavik will be a big boost for the Vikings. It’s essentially a draw, and the opponents approach the game with similar stats and similar levels of ambition, so they’re likely to share the points between them. The odds to bet on a draw are around 3.05.

Iceland and Romania teams got off to a poor start in the World Cup 2022 qualifying tournament, almost losing their chances of going to Qatar as early as the third round. Still, their matches are fun to watch as they are very open and productive. Ten goals were scored in the three previous meetings with the Vikings (3.33 on average per game), while the Romanians had 11 goals against (3.67 on average per game) over the same distance. It all promises a goal-rich encounter, and the best option for our prediction is Total Over (2) goals at odds close to 1.72.

Iceland and Romania are in a tough position in the standings, where they vitally need points from the encounter, so they will try to start actively from the first minutes to get such a vital advantage in the score. They have nothing to lose now. The setback in the game with Armenia is a blow for both teams. We can’t afford to keep dragging our feet and expect their rivals to score, so a bet on the first goal from 1 to 30 minutes is worth looking at odds of around 1.92.