Luis Torres
Dailysports's expert
Sweden
Northern Ireland
On March 25, 2025, a friendly match will take place between the national teams of Sweden and Northern Ireland. This encounter will be an excellent opportunity for the teams to test their form before the qualification for upcoming international tournaments and to improve their performance metrics. I suggest considering a bet on the total goals in this match.
Sweden
Sweden is one of the most consistent national teams in Europe, regularly qualifying for the World Cup and European Championships. In recent years, the Swedes have shown decent results: reaching the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup and the round of 16 at Euro 2016 and Euro 2020. However, they missed out on the last major tournaments — the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024 — failing to qualify. In the Nations League, Sweden performed in League C and confidently took first place, not losing a single match, which allowed them to move up to League B. One of their recent emphatic victories was a 6-0 thrashing of Azerbaijan, but in the previous friendly match against Luxembourg, the team unexpectedly lost 0-1.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland, despite less successful results in major tournaments, continues to fight for a place among the elite. The main achievement in recent years was participation in the 2016 European Championship, where the team reached the round of 16. However, since then, the national team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the 2022 World Cup, as well as Euro 2020 and Euro 2024. Nevertheless, in the last Nations League, Northern Ireland took 1st place in League C, securing promotion to League B.
In the last five matches, the team has won two and drawn three times. The latest draw in a friendly match against Switzerland 1-1 showed that Northern Ireland is capable of challenging high-level teams.
Probable lineups
Sweden: Olsen, Starfelt, Hien, Gudmundsson, Dahl, Karlström, Zeneli, Jonsson, Eliasson, Isak, Elanga.
Northern Ireland: Charles, Hume, Brown, McNair, Spencer, Charles, Smith, Saville, Galbraith, Bonis, Price.
Interesting facts and head-to-head encounters
- Sweden played over 2.5 total goals in 8 of the last 9 matches.
- Sweden wins 7 of the last 8 home matches.
- Sweden wins 3 of the last 4 matches.
- Northern Ireland is unbeaten in 7 of the last 8 matches.
Match prediction: Sweden vs Northern Ireland
Sweden is the favorite in this encounter, but Northern Ireland, despite lacking recent experience in major tournaments, can challenge the more experienced opponent. Both teams will use the match to test new players and tactical decisions, which could lead to open and high-scoring football. My bet is on the total goals in the match being over 2.5 with odds of 1.8.
