Estonia vs Norway

High-flying Norway head to Tallinn to take on Estonia in a ‘David vs Goliath’ 2026 World Cup qualifier at A. Le Coq Arena.

Despite taking an early lead against Israel on Friday, conceding on either side of halftime consigned Estonia to a 3-1 defeat, curtailing their chances of securing a playoff spot in Group after a 3-2 win at Kazakhstan in round two. Vying for their first-ever World Cup qualification, the Baltic minnows sit three points off second-placed Israel and six behind leaders and upcoming rivals Norway. Worryingly, Jurgen Henn’s charges have only beaten Azerbaijan and the Faroe Islands at home since the start of 2023 (D1, L7), not to mention they’ve conceded three goals in their last two home outings! Against this backdrop, they’ve kept a clean sheet in back-to-back meetings with Norway (W1, D1), though their most recent encounter dates back to 2016! 

Meanwhile, Norway’s bid to reach the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998 received the ultimate boost last week as they thumped Italy 3-0 at home to make it three wins out of three at the start of their Group I journey! Relentless in front of goal, Stale Solbakken’s side netted 3+ goals in all three victories, scoring four or more in both away matches against Israel (4-2) and Moldova (5-0). Norway’s incredible scoring form has seen them eclipse their tallies from the 2010 and 2014 qualifying campaigns, testifying to their rapid growth under Solbakken. Furthermore, the Scandinavian giants have hauled 13 goals across their last three away games in all competitions, setting themselves up nicely for a fourth consecutive win on hostile turf.