Who from Hungary or Iceland will get his ticket to Euro 2021 and join the pool of France?
Such is the stake of this final of the play-offs this Thursday evening (8:45 p.m.) at the Puskas Arena in Budapest.
In order to climb to the last qualifying round of the Euro, the Hungarians won brilliantly in Bulgaria (1-3) on October 8.
For their part, the Icelanders eliminated, in the semi-finals of the play-offs, Romania (2-1) thanks to the double of Gylfi Sigurdsson.
In terms of the confrontations between Hungary and Iceland, it is Hungary which has the advantage with seven victories.
The Icelanders have won only three times.
The two nations remain on a score of parity (1-1).
It was in the group stage of Euro 2016 at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille.
Avoid playing a second away game in Hungary
Hungary shows a beautiful face in Pool 3 of League B of the Nations League.
Second with 7 points, she is fighting for first place with Russia (first with 8 points).
The Hungarian team first won in Turkey (0-1) before losing at home against Russia (2-3).
Then, the 47th nation in the FIFA rankings recovered by going to win in Serbia (0-1) and drawing a draw in Russia (0-0).
In addition, the record of the Blues against Hungary is not encouraging.
The Hungarians have 12 victories, France eight.
And these two nations have drawn two matches.
However, the Habs are on a five-game winning streak.
The last match against Hungary, in the final phase of a competition, dates back to 1986 in the first round of the World Cup.
The Blues of Platini had won 3-0.
In addition to this negative record against this opponent, another important element is to be taken into account for the France team.
If Hungary qualify, the world champions will face them at home at Puskas Arena in Budapest.
What complicates the task.
Which would make two away matches for Didier Deschamps' team during this Euro since it will also face Germany in Munich, in its first match on June 15, 2021. Not easy.
Iceland is doing well in France
In 15 games, France has never lost against Iceland.
More precisely, the vice-champions of Europe total 11 victories for four draws.
The last two successes date back to qualifying for the Euro: 4-0 on March 25, 2019 at the Stade de France and 0-1 on October 11, 2019 in Reykjavik.
During their first Euro in 2016, Iceland achieved the feat of reaching the quarter-finals.
France ended their good run with a 5-2 wide score.
In group 2 of League A of the League of Nations, the 39th nation in the FIFA rankings is exceeded and occupies the last place without a point in four games.
The Nordic country remains on four consecutive defeats against England (0-1), Belgium (5-1 and 1-2) and Denmark (0-3).
All these elements mean that the Blues will certainly prefer to challenge the Icelanders.
The calendar of the France team at Euro 2021:
- Tuesday June 15, 2021: France - Germany, at the Allianz Arena in Munich (9 p.m.)
- Saturday June 19, 2021: Hungary or Iceland - France, at the Puskas Arena in Budapest (3 p.m.)
- Wednesday 23 June 2021: Portugal - France, at the Puskas Arena in Budapest (9:00 p.m.)
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