Estonia seeks to create history in Euro 2024 playoff

Estonia’s national soccer team has the chance to create history in March when it takes part in the qualifying playoffs for Euro 2024.

The team has yet to reach a major international soccer tournament, coming closest when losing in a two-legged playoff against the Republic of Ireland for Euro 2012, and it faces a huge challenge to qualify for next summer’s finals in Germany.

Emulating the achievement of Latvia, who qualified for Euro 2004, would be a monumental feat for Estonia, who must overcome Poland away from home and then either Wales or Finland, also away from home, to book a spot at Euro 2024.

Estonia huge underdog

The football odds certainly do not favor Estonia’s prospects of making it to Germany. Before even considering Estonia’s odds of +50000 to win Euro 2024, the team is priced at +1600 for its one-off game against Poland. The football tips leading into that match are more likely to focus on how many goals Robert Lewandowski will score than Estonia’s prospects of causing a huge upset.

But while the odds are stacked against Estonia even making it to the playoff final, never mind Euro 2024 itself, coach Thomas Haberli has several months to construct a game plan to shut down Lewandowski and his Poland teammates.

Based on Estonia’s qualification campaign, it is certainly going to be a challenge given the team claimed just one point from its eight group matches, which was a 1-1 draw away to Azerbaijan. Only two goals were scored and 20 were conceded as Estonia also suffered 5-0 defeats against Belgium and Sweden.

Estonia’s place in the playoffs, though, was already secured, irrespective of the team’s results in qualifying due to its performance in the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League. The team won all four matches against San Marino and Malta in Nations League D to finish as the best-ranked team in that section, ahead of Latvia.

Estonia has beaten Poland before

Beating San Marino and Malta is a different proposition to overcoming Poland, although Haberli could take inspiration from a 1-0 friendly win over the Poles in 2012 when Konstantin Vassiljev scored a 90th-minute winner.

That victory came just months after Estonia had lost 5-1 on aggregate to the Republic of Ireland in their Euro 2012 playoff, having finished runner-up in its qualifying group. A 4-0 home defeat in the first leg ensured there was little to play for in the return game in Ireland, which Estonia drew 1-1.

Haberli does not have a squad as talented as the one from back then at his disposal - he has a mix of players who are entering the latter stages of their careers and those still in their formative years, rather than a group in its prime.

However, while Estonia does not have a player of the profile of Barcelona striker Lewandowski in its ranks, it has a group of soccer players determined to grasp the opportunity to play at a major tournament. Football history is full of underdog stories and Estonia should not be discounted from adding its own chapter by qualifying for Euro 2024.