With attentions now turning to international football, Northern Ireland are set to face off with Guinea in a friendly match in La Linea, Spain this Thursday.
Neither of these sides are heading to North America for the upcoming World Cup, meaning little is on the line here. In fact, Northern Ireland may well have one eye on their next friendly game, which will see them face France.
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So can Guinea produce what would be an upset win, or will Northern Ireland claim a fun victory away from home?
Northern Ireland vs Guinea Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- This will be the first time Northern Ireland have ever faced Guinea, and in fact, it will be the first time Guinea have faced non-African opponents since they were beaten by Brazil in a friendly in the summer of 2023.
- Northern Ireland were unfortunate not to make the World Cup, as they put up a good fight in their play-off match with Italy before going down 2-0. However, they are not on the best run of form now, with just one win to their name in their last five matches.
- Guinea did not come quite so close to qualifying for the World Cup as their opponents here. They finished 4th in a CAF qualifying group eventually won by Algeria, meaning they have still not qualified for the World Cup since becoming an independent nation.
- Prior to a loss to Benin in March, though, Guinea were on a solid run of form, going unbeaten in seven matches, with three wins and four draws. The most impressive of those was arguably a 0-0 draw with Algeria.
- Northern Ireland will be without a handful of their better-known players for this game, including defenders Dan Ballard of Sunderland and Conor Bradley of Liverpool, both of whom are injured.
Northern Ireland vs Guinea Prediction
Given that neither of these teams have qualified for the World Cup, and Northern Ireland have an upcoming friendly with France that should gain a bit more attention, it’s not likely we’ll see a classic here.
The truth is that Guinea are a totally unknown quantity outside of Africa given they rarely face opponents from outside their continent.
However, they do boast the dangerous Borussia Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy, and while their results do not seem to suggest that they’ll be able to beat Northern Ireland, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this one end in a draw.
Prediction: Northern Ireland 1-1 Guinea
Northern Ireland vs Guinea Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result – Draw.
Tip 2: Serhou Guirassy to score for Guinea – Yes (Guirassy has scored 22 goals for Borussia Dortmund this season).
Tip 3: Both sides to score – Yes (Neither of these sides tend to keep clean sheets).
Edited by Scott M Newman