The final countdown to UEFA Euro 2024 has officially begun as we approach a string of highly anticipated international friendlies. Some of the nations that are playing this week are heading for the big tournament and others aren’t, but either way, it’s important for all of them to try and build some momentum. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the impending clash between Belgium and Luxembourg.

Belgium’s golden generation is slowly devolving and, in reality, they only have one (or two) tournaments left with their current crop of players. There aren’t really any more excuses that can be thrown in their direction and after messing up in a big way at the World Cup, they have to rebound - and they need some of their big names to be the ones who drag them through this mess.

Belgium got the job done in qualifying as they went unbeaten across their eight games. They did only manage to edge past Austria by one point, but they were still able to get over the finish line and finish top, which should reaffirm why they’re feeling confident heading into Germany 2024.

Luxembourg is known as the nation with the most qualifying campaigns for the World Cup and Euros without ever actually reaching the final tournament. While many expect that trend to continue, there certainly seems to be a self belief in this particular squad that could do wonders for them. They’re looking stronger than they ever have, and you never know how far they could take it.

Luxembourg deserve a lot of praise for finishing 3rd in their group, just five points behind Slovakia in 2nd place. In the play-offs, they were unlucky in their semi-final against Georgia, falling to a 2-0 defeat that ended their hopes of reaching Germany in the summer.

In a game like this, the whole point is to do everything in your power to make an impact - but at the same time, there are far more important matches that lie ahead. At the same time, we do expect it to be an entertaining game with plenty of chances, which is why we’re still going to back over 2.5 goals scored.