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Cyprus will face San Marino at the AEK Arena on Friday in the opening round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The home side struggled for results in the Nations League last year and will hope they can turn things around when they return to action this week as they push for their maiden World Cup appearance.
The White and Blues suffered a 4-1 hiding at the hands of Romania in their most recent outing, which marked their final game under head coach Sofronis Avgousti who has since taken charge of Cypriot club Apollon Limassol.
San Marino, meanwhile, enjoyed a remarkable international break back in November and will be looking to pick up where they left off. They picked up a 3-1 win over Liechtenstein in their last match to secure promotion to League C in the Nations League as La Serenissima registered more than two goals in the same game for the first time in their history.
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The visitors will be hopeful of a positive start to their World Cup qualifying campaign this week before they host Romania in the second round.
Cyprus vs San Marino Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- There have been seven meetings between Cyprus and San Marino, with the home side coming out on top on all seven occasions.
- The two teams last faced off in a friendly clash back in June 2024 which Cyprus won 4-1.
- La Serenissima have failed to score any goals in six of their last seven games in this fixture.
- Neither side have managed a clean sheet in their last five outings.
- The White and Blues were ranked 130th in the latest FIFA rankings and now sit 80 places above their weekend opponents.
Cyprus vs San Marino Prediction
Cyprus have lost four of their last five matches and six of their last nine. They have, however, had the upper hand in this fixture historically and remain overwhelming favorites ahead of the weekend clash.
San Marino, meanwhile, picked up a historic result against Liechtenstein last time out and will be looking to take inspiration from that this Friday. The sheer gulf in class and quality between the two teams could, however, see the visitors lose here.
Prediction: Cyprus 2-0 San Marino
Cyprus vs San Marino Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Cyprus to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Under 2.5 goals (Five of the visitor’ last six games have produced fewer than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: No (Both sides have found the back of the net in just one of their last seven matchups)
