Wales vs Finland Odds, Euro Play-off Semifinal Preview
Wales Hold Six Game Unbeaten Streak
Winner Takes on Poland or Estonia in Final
Wales have managed life post-Gareth Bale just fine. They are on a six game unbeaten streak heading into Thursday’s Euro Qualifying Play-off Semifinal vs. Finland. The winner of Thursday’s match will still have to defeat either Poland or Estonia to qualify for the final tournament. Wales will have the Cardiff crowd behind them on Thursday as they try to extend their unbeaten streak. Before the game kicks off, we’ll check out the Wales vs Finland odds.
Wales vs Finland
Date, time:
Location: Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
Wales vs Finland Head-to-Head
Wales are unbeaten in their last four matches vs Finland. The last meeting was a 2021 friendly, which finished scoreless. This is the first match between the two sides on the UEFA Euro schedule for qualifying since 2009, though. Wales last defeated Finland in a qualifier in 2002 but the Dragons defeated Finland twice in the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League. Kieffer Moore scored in both fixtures for Wales.
Wales Have Big Game Experience
Since Bale’s retirement, Wales are 4-4-2 in 10 matches. They were in one of the trickier Euro 2024 qualification groups, with Turkey and Croatia. Even so, Wales managed a win and a draw vs. Croatia but drew their last two matches to finish in third place. In the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, Wales were statistically the worst team in league A. Wales went 0-1-5 and will participate in the Nations League B next time around.
Even so, Wales take a six game unbeaten streak into Thursday’s match. Fulham midfielder Harry Wilson starred in qualifiers and score both goals in the win over Croatia. He’s prominently featured in the side and he, Neco Williams, Ethan Ampadu, Danny Ward, Connor Roberts and Joe Rodon all appeared in each of Wales’ eight Euro qualifiers.
While Tottenham’s Brennan Johnson is a talented player, he’s not a traditional striker. Kieffer Moore has scored some big goals at times for Wales but he’s more of a target man and not very involved in build up. So, Rob Page will have to be creative and find a 90 minute solution. Defensively, Joe Rodon and Ben Davies provide big game experience. However, Tom Lockyer and Joe Morrell are out of the squad. Currently, the Wales vs Finland odds list the hosts as favorites.
Hakans Provides Spark for Finland
Four years ago, a 6-4 record in Euro qualifiers was enough for Finland to advance to the final tournament for the first time ever. This time around, they also finished 6-4 but that was only good enough for third in the Group H Euro 2024 standings for qualifiers. Finland went 2-2-2 in the 2022-23 Nations League as well and finished behind Bosnia in League B, Group 3.
Finland seldom pull off upsets in competitive matches, the exception being their Euro 2020 opening win over Denmark. That was an emotional match, as Denmark’s Christian Eriksen suffered cardiac arrest and the game was suspended for quite some time. Still, Finland are a solid squad with experience in important areas.
Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky hasn’t lost a single match with Bayer Leverkusen this season. Meanwhile, striker Teemu Pukki has 39 national team goals. Midfielders Robin Lod and Rasmus Schuller have both made over 60 appearances. Meanwhile, midfielder Daniel Hakans has burst onto the scene in recent months and he scored a hat trick vs. San Marino in qualifiers. Perhaps he could be the spark Finland need here.
Wales vs Finland Match Analysis & Odds
Finland have only ever won one road match at Wales and the Wales vs Finland odds price the hosts as -120 favorites. At the moment, Finland are +360 underdogs and bettors can consider Finland +0.5 at -110 odds. Typically, Finland are not a high scoring bunch, especially away from home.
The odds seem to imply this could be a low scoring affair. Right now, under 2, 2.5 goals come in at -120 odds and if Finland get the first goal expect them to hold onto their lead for dear life. Even though they don’t have a prolific scorer anymore, Wales do have the spine of a solid team and they’ll expect to grind this one out in front of the home support.
A draw (+245) would send this one into extra time and Wales are -230 overall favorites to advance to next Tuesday’s final. Finland are priced at +180 odds to qualify and while they aren’t as talented as Wales, they are capable of making this one a match.
