YBIG 12
When the Group A draw for the World Cup 2022 was completed, no one in Ireland was giving Luxembourg much of a thought as all eyes were on the top two seeded teams in the group, Portugal and Serbia, while 4th seeds Luxembourg would be dismissed as minnows by many Ireland fans. And for for most of their history this has been true where they have been the whipping boys of European football finishing bottom regularly,
But in their recent history under manager, Luc Holtz who has been manager since 2010 they have improved. Notable results since 2017 include drawing 0-0 away to France, beating Albania, Hungary and Georgia. Considering the poor form Ireland are in of late, to assume we will have two easy wins would be a bad error, although with the preparedness of Stephen Kenny you can’t see Kenny been dismissive of Luxembourg.
Luxembourg’s most recent results in the Nations League in 2020 were also impressive, finishing second to Montenegro, Azerbaijan (5th seeds in our WC Group A) finished third with Cyprus last. Luxembourg’s best results were beating Cyprus 2-0 at home and Azerbaijan 2-1 away.
Ireland will play Luxembourg at home on Saturday March 24th, where we should finally have some fans allowed into the stadium. Fortunately for punters, you can check your-bonus-code.com for the best promotions and offers to wager on these games.
Fun fact 1. They’ve played the most qualifying tournaments in Europe without ever qualifying beginning with the World Cup Qualifiers in 1934 and the Euro qualifiers in 1964.
Fun fact 2. It’s unlikely World Cup 2022 qualifying will be any different.
Star player
Daniel Sinani is a 23 year old attacking midfielder who has scored 6 goals in 29 appearances for Luxembourg since making his debut in 2017. He started his career with Luxembourg’s top team F91 Dudelange winning the league twice and also been named the Luxembourg player of the year in 2019. It was his exploits in European football which led to Norwich signing him in April 2020. His 14 goals in Champions League and Europa League games. He scored against Olympiacos and he also scored twice against Sevilla. Norwich have loaned him out to Belgium side Waasland-Beveren for this season, where he often sits behind the two attacking players.
Luxembourg info
Location: Tucked between Belgium, Germany and France
Population: 620,000
Nickname: The Red Lions
Where do they play: In the capital, Luxembourg City
Stadium: (8,000 capacity) Stade Josy Barthel
Manager: Luc Holtz
Star Player: Daniel Sinani
World Rankings: 98
FA website: www.football.lu/
Ireland’s Group A fixtures
Wednesday March 24: Serbia (away)
Saturday March 27: Luxembourg (home)
Tuesday March 30: Qatar (Not part of the group)
Wednesday September 1: Portugal (away)
Saturday September 4: Azerbaijan (home)
Tuesday September 7: Serbia (home)
Saturday October 9: Azerbaijan (away)
Tuesday October 12: Qatar (Not part of the group, match will be played in Europe)
Thursday November 11: Portugal (home)
Sunday November 14: Luxembourg (away)
Words: Carl McMahon
