Sweden kick off the 2024 Euros qualifying campaign with a big occasion on Friday as Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be once again back in the team. Can he lead the side to a victory over Belgium?
Bookmaker 10bet has the odds at 3.60 for Zlatan to mark his comeback with a goal. Romelu Lukaku is seen as the likeliest scorer in the contest, with the odds for his goal at 2.40.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: March 23rd, 9:30 A.M. (EST)
Zlatan last appeared for Sweden almost exactly a year ago when the team lost to Poland in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying playoff. He’s needed several months to recover from knee surgery, but the veteran forward finally made his season debut for AC Milan on Feb. 26 and Sweden manager Janne Andersson hasn’t hesitated in calling Zlatan back to the national team.
The 41-year-old has just become the oldest scorer ever in Serie A, and with him on the pitch, you know that you could be only a second away from witnessing something magical.
Zlatan’s offensive production has dropped as he has turned older, but his numbers for Sweden are still outstanding as he has registered 62 goals and 25 assists in 121 games. Incredibly, Ibrahimovic made his international debut back in 2001 and yet he is still going strong.
The Belgian side starts a new era on Friday as Domenico Tedesco has replaced Roberto Martinez as the manager. His first aim would be to get a good reaction out of the team following its disappointing World Cup campaign. Belgium was once again hailed as one of the favorites for the tournament but couldn’t even get past the group stage.
The so-called Golden Generation has started to get old and Tedesco needs to see a group of fresh faces emerge as the new team leaders. Lens’ Lois Openda will be seen as one of the players to usher in the new era.
The 23-year-old is enjoying a very good debut campaign in France and has linked up with the Belgian squad just after scoring the fastest Ligue 1 hat trick in 50 years. A week and a half ago, Openda needed just four minutes and 30 seconds to get the job done against Clermont. He had produced 14 goals in total in 28 appearances in the French top flight.
Openda will be hoping to help Belgium get its ninth-ever win against Sweden. The two nations haven’t met for seven years but there still plenty of history between them. The Belgians are looking for their fourth straight victory in the match-up on Friday, while Sweden will aim to get their sixth-ever triumph in the head-to-head meetings.
