Belgium vs Czech Republic

Belgium and the Czech Republic are set to trade tackles at the King Baudouin Stadium in a top-of-the-standings 2022 World Cup qualifying Group E encounter.

Belgium came from behind to thrash minnows Estonia 5-2 away from home last time out, maintaining an almost perfect start to their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign (W3, D1). Except for a 1-1 away draw against this opposition, Roberto Martinez’s men have scored 3+ goals in each of their remaining three Group E fixtures (5.33 on average), putting their intimidating firepower on full display. Hot favorites to stretch their unbeaten competitive H2H streak to four matches (W2, D1), ‘De Rode Duivels’ aim to emulate their last World Cup qualifying campaign that saw them drop just two points (W9, D1). To make things even more challenging for the Czech Republic, you have to go back to 2016 to find the last time Belgium lost a competitive game on home soil.

The visitors eked out a narrow 1-0 home win over Belarus last time out, bringing a two-game winless streak in Group E to a halt (D1, L1). With seven points from four World Cup qualifying matches (W2, D1, L1), the Czech Republic are not off the hook yet as they aim for the first World Cup finals appearance since 2006. Since making their debut in World Cup qualifiers as a sovereign nation in 1994, the ‘Lions’ have failed to land a single victory in away World Cup qualifying matches against higher-side group side, which could be a concern heading into this match-up. Moreover, Jaroslav Šilhavý’s men have lost four of their last five internationals held on foreign soil (W1), excluding their Euro 2020 journey. That said, the Czech Republic’s overall away record in World Cup qualifiers over the past decade comes as a confidence booster (W6, D2, L4).