Leo Peterson
Dailysports's expert
Cyprus
San Marino
On March 21, 2025, the "AEK Arena" stadium in Larnaca will host the first round of the World Cup qualification match where the national teams of Cyprus and San Marino will clash. I suggest a handicap bet on one of the teams.
- Also read: Equatorial Guinea vs São Tomé and Príncipe prediction, H2H and probable lineups - March 21, 2025
Preview
The first round of qualification kicks off, and both teams find themselves in a fairly even group with no clear favorite. Besides these teams, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, and Austria will also compete for a spot in the World Championship. The group winner will earn a direct ticket to the world tournament, while the second-place team will attempt to advance through the playoff stage.
The Cyprus national team played its last matches in the Nations League, where it finished third in a group with Romania, Kosovo, and Lithuania. By defeating Lithuania twice, the Cypriots demoted them to the lower division, allowing the islanders to retain their place in League C.
In the new season, the San Marino national team will also compete in League C. Under the guidance of Italian coach Roberto Cevoli, they secured a spot in the third-strongest division by winning their group, where their opponents were Gibraltar and Liechtenstein.
The key to success was two victories over Liechtenstein and a draw in one of the matches against Gibraltar. The points gained were enough to surpass Gibraltar by one point and move up to a new level of competition.
Possible lineups
- Cyprus: Demetriou, Karo, Andreou, Laifis, Correia, Loizou, Spoljaric, Artymatas, Kakoulis, Sotiriou, Tzionis
- San Marino: Colombo, Fabri, Valentini, Benvenuti, Tosi, Zannoni, Battistini, Lazzari, Berardi, Contadini, Nanni
Match facts and H2H
- In the last five matches involving Cyprus, the "Over 2.5 goals" bet has consistently won.
- Last year, the teams played a friendly match, and Cyprus confidently defeated San Marino on their home turf with a score of 4:1.
- This goal was the only one for San Marino in the entire history of their encounters. In the other six meetings, the Cypriots have always won, with an aggregate score of 18:0.
Prediction
I suggest playing it safe and going for a more reliable bet. A bet on Cyprus to win with a handicap (-1.5) seems to be the choice for this match. Bookmakers offer odds of 1.52 for this outcome.
