Georgia vs Norway

Adjarabet Arena is the venue as Georgia and Norway go head-to-head in their first Euro qualifying H2H since 1999.

Georgia might have set themselves up perfectly for the commencement of their pursuit of a first-ever European Championship qualification as an independent country by thumping Mongolia 6-1 in a friendly last weekend. Fresh from pulling off their third biggest-margin victory of all time, the ‘Crusaders’ will take the field full of confidence after racking up ten wins in 13 international outings since October 2021 (D2, L1). During that spell, Georgia gained promotion to the second tier of the UEFA Nations League, securing an alternate way to next summer’s tournament. That must be a huge relief for Georgia, considering they open their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign against a Norway side they’ve lost to in all three previous meetings, including a pair of defeats in Euro 2000 qualifying.

In the meantime, Norway’s attempt to ensure their first European Championship appearance since 2000 started with a whimper rather than a bang. Without standout striker Erling Haaland, Stale Solbakken’s men suffered a demoralizing 3-0 defeat at Spain on matchday one and are now winless in four of their last five internationals (D1, L3). Haaland’s absence has been a massive problem for the Norwegians, given that they’ve registered just two wins in the nine matches Haaland has missed since 2019 (D3, L4), highlighting the Manchester City ace’s importance to Solbakken’s tactical set-up. On top of that, Norway’s defensive woes have seen them go six consecutive matches without a clean sheet, conceding multiple goals four times in that span.