Fresh from his winning Nations League treble on Tuesday, football commentator Kieran Burke seeks to strike gold in Friday’s UNL matches.
Friday’s Nations League ACCA
- Belgium (to beat Turkey)
- France (to beat Italy)
- Sweden (to beat Bosnia)
- Ukraine (to beat Northern Ireland)
- Odds: 31/4
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Belgium v Turkey, Fri, 19:45
Belgian football fans know all too well the perils of a national team being dubbed the “golden generation”, with the Red Devils failing to live up to the lofty expectations set at recent major tournaments. Turkey is in danger of falling into a similar trap as Arda Guler’s emergence lifts hopes around the nation.
However, Guler and his Turkey teammates failed to fire at the World Cup as FIFA’s 27th-ranked team crashed out at the group stage. Now, they’ve begun their latest Nations League campaign with back-to-back defeats.
Despite stuttering through the World Cup groups, Belgium put up a fight against eventual winners Spain before bowing out in the quarter-finals, and the FIFA-ranked number eight team in the world have since begun the UNL with a victory in Italy. A narrow defeat to France has since followed, but a home tie with Turkey looks a good chance to bounce back.
Belgium’s recent form may look slightly concerning on paper, with the Red Devils suffering defeats in two of their last three outings. However, there is plenty of context behind those results, as both losses came against opponents currently sitting inside FIFA’s top three. Belgium had previously put together an impressive 18-game unbeaten run, winning 12 and drawing six, and they will be hoping to rediscover that consistency when they take on their next challenge in Liège.
BEST BET: Belgium (9/20)
France v Italy, Fri, 19:45
Italian football is at a low ebb with no real household names wearing the Azzurri colours at present. Three consecutive World Cup qualification failures confirm that these are worrying times for the Italians. Monday’s 1-4 win in Turkey came as something of a welcome surprise, but as outlined above, Turkey aren’t exactly world beaters themselves.
A 0-2 defeat against Belgium in their UNL opener is a better indication of where Italy find themselves in the world football pecking order right now.
France ultimately disappointed at the World Cup, but Zinedine Zidane has been tasked with removing the handbrake that was so often engaged by Didier Deschamps. The new French boss may not have fully achieved that feat just yet, but Les Bleus are two-for-two under their new manager after consecutive 1-0 wins against Turkey and Belgium.
The contrast in star power between the two sides couldn’t be starker. In fact, a French reserve team would probably still be fancied to win a Euros or World Cup.
BEST BET: France (4/9)
Bosnia & Herzegovina v Sweden, Fri, 19:45
I was lucky enough to get some commentary work at the World Cup during the summer, and one of the games I covered was Bosnia’s 4-1 defeat against Switzerland, a game in which Johan Manzambi announced himself to the world.
I was surprised just how poor Bosnia were. They lacked any sort of creativity and were totally overrun by Switzerland as the game wore on. To see Edin Dzeko still leading their line into his forties suggests that there may be a lack of talent coming off the conveyor belt at present.
While Bosnia’s UNL campaign has been more positive to date, with four points from two games, Sweden may represent a step up in class from Romania and Poland. The Swedes endured an up-and-down World Cup, to say the least, but they’ve got plenty of quality in their ranks and have started the UNL with back-to-back victories.
Alexander Isak is currently unavailable due to injury, but Graham Potter can still call up the likes of Viktor Gyokeres, Lucas Bergvall, and Benjamin Nygren.
Those wins against Romania and Poland have extended Sweden’s unbeaten streak in the UEFA Nations League to nine matches, with seven victories and two draws during that spell. They should also take confidence from their record since Graham Potter took charge in October 2025, with all three of their competitive defeats coming against opposition ranked inside FIFA’s top 15. With their next opponents sitting 23 places lower in the world rankings, Sweden will see this as another opportunity to maintain their impressive record.
BEST BET: Sweden (23/20)
Ukraine v Northern Ireland, Fri, 19:45
The top two in League B2 go head-to-head in Trnava as Ukraine tackles Northern Ireland. Both nations sit on four points after their opening two group games, which makes this a potential promotion six-pointer.
While Ukraine’s lack of a genuine home venue could be viewed as something of a leveler, Michael O’Neill’s side are no certs to capitalise, given Northern Ireland have won just one of their last 13 away matches, losing eight of those.
Northern Ireland have also failed to score in four of their six matches against Ukraine. Improving on such a record is unlikely to be easy given that Ukraine’s last four wins were accompanied by a clean sheet. The North have also failed to score more than a single goal in any of their last nine matches. Away from home, that run stands at six matches.
The last meeting between the sides saw Ukraine run out 1-0 winners in 2021 and given that the Green and White Army have gone down by a one-goal margin in six of their last seven UNL defeats, a similar scoreline may be repeated here.
BEST BET: Ukraine (9/10)
NEXT BEST: Ukraine to win to nil (39/20)
CORRECT SCORE PREDICTION: Ukraine 1-0 Northern Ireland (4/1)
Friday’s Nations League Tips
- Belgium (to beat Turkey)
- France (to beat Italy)
- Sweden (to beat Bosnia)
- Ukraine (to beat Northern Ireland)
- Odds: 31/4
