Iceland v Belgium Predictions

Iceland v Belgium Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Preview here. Roberto Martinez has welcomed a few new faces into his Belgium squad.

Iceland v Belgium Match Stats

• Belgium played Scotland in a friendly on Friday night
• Iceland visited Switzerland on Saturday evening
• The sides are in the top tier of UEFA's new competition

Iceland v Belgium Match Odds

Iceland to win – x

Draw – x

Belgium to win – x

Iceland v Belgium Betting Preview

So, the so-called 'golden generation' of Belgium football did not quite manage to emerge victorious at this summer's World Cup finals. Roberto Martinez and the Belgian people were no doubt proud of their side's third-place finish, although it proved not to be too difficult for them to defeat England for a second time to earn that ranking.

The squad that Martinez has picked for Belgium's opening Nations League game has a very familiar look about it. All the big names are included – new Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Tottenham threesome of Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Mousa Dembele, Manchester City's Vincent Company and Manchester United's Romelu Lukaku. Eden Hazard has been selected as well of course, now a mere five caps short of reaching one hundred, and as the playmaker is only twenty-seven, he could be on course for an eventual total close to one hundred and fifty.

Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne is missing though through injury. Also missing because of various knocks are Simon Mignolet, Marouane Fellaini, Adnan Januzaj and Christian Benteke. 

Several ('exciting' according to head coach Martinez) new faces appear in the squad. These are goalkeepers Matz Sels (Strasbourg) and Koen Casteels (Wolfsburg), defender Timothy Castagne (Atalanta), midfielders Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge) and Birger Verstraete (Gent), and striker Leandro Trossard (Genk).

Iceland were of course just happy to be competing in this summer's tournament – the first-ever World Cup finals the tiny country has ever qualified for. Result of the summer for them was holding Argentina to a draw, although it was the only point they won as that was followed by defeats by Nigeria and Croatia.

The country's football fans remain thrilled with their country's progress upon the international stage, although the memory of that stunning defeat of England in the 2016 European Championships is beginning to fade. They have a new manager too in the former Sweden boss Erik Hamren, who has taken over from Helmir Hallgrimsson. Hallgrimsson has stepped down after five years in charge following Iceland's failure to advance to the group stages in Russia.

Hamren's first squad contains nothing but familiar names, including Everton's Gylfi Sigurdsson and Birkir Bjarnason of Aston Villa. Captain Aron Gunnarsson of Cardiff City has not been selected though as he is still recovering from injury, while Johann Berg Gudmundsson of Burnley has had to pull out of the squad as he has not recovered from his own injury woes in time.

Iceland v Belgium Predictions

It's hard to see Iceland – no matter how heroic they can be – getting anything out of this one. Competition in the Belgium squad is fierce so each new face will be playing for a future role for the side when qualification for the European Championships begins in earnest.

Still, Iceland are a side capable of holding, if not beating, anyone on their day, so they should not be dismissed out of hand.

Iceland v Belgium Betting Tips

Belgium Draw No Bet

Under 2.5 Goals   BET HERE