Belgium – Switzerland SOCCER PICKS
Before joining the Dutch national team, Belgium first plays for the echie in the Nations League: Switzerland travels to our southern neighbors.
Belgium:
Belgium is currently in first place of the FIFA ranking. For some, it may be a surprise since France became world champion last summer, but because the French only played exhibition games two years prior to the World Cup, our southern neighbors gathered more points. The Red Devils lost only one match in the last two years and that was in the semi-final against France in Russia.
In recent years, Roberto Martinez’s team managed to beat England, Brazil, Japan, Costa Rica, Iceland, Greece, Bosnia, Egypt and the Czech Republic twice. There is no escape: Belgium is currently the absolute world top, so the Netherlands can wet its chest next week.
The weak point of the Belgians is that, unlike countries such as France, Spain and Brazil, they have a less broad bank. Stars like Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne can not be replaced without a problem. For the meetings with Switzerland and the Netherlands Martinez can not rely on De Bruyne, Vertonghen and Dembele, among others, while Nainggolan is no longer available. Replaces like Youri Tielemans, Nacer Chadli and Axel Witsel are a lot less.
Switzerland:
Switzerland is the number eight of the world rankings and can now more or less be regarded as the top of the football world. In qualifying for the World Championship, the Alpine people won no less than nine out of ten matches in a group with Portugal, Hungary, Latvia, Andorra and the Faroe Islands.
At the World Championships, the Swiss scored five points by playing a draw against Brazil and Costa Rica and winning against Serbia. The match against the Serbs was very loaded given the large number of Swiss with Balkan roots. In that 2-1 won game, Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka, both with Kosovar Albanian roots, celebrated their hits with an Eagle gesture. In line with history, the eighth finale was the final destination for Switzerland. Sweden was overpowered by Emil Forsberg 1-0.
After the World Cup the Swiss kicked the Nations League convincingly. Iceland, no longer a small football country, was sent home no less than 6-0. There were no less than six different goal scorers: Zuber, Zakaria, Shaqiri, Ajeti, Mehmedi and Seferovic all scored their goals.
