Cyprus and Bosnia-Herzegovina to finish all square

On Thursday night, Cyprus host Bosnia-Herzegovina in Group H of World Cup qualifying, with the visitors hoping to enhance their hopes of securing at least second spot in the group.

The home side have not endured a terrible qualification campaign so far and a victory in this clash could move them to within a point of the third place visitors.

After losing their first three qualifiers in the group, Cyprus are now on a three game unbeaten run which has seen them pick up seven points from games against Gibraltar twice and Estonia. The pair are not the toughest opponents in the group, but the improvement in results will make the home side optimistic of picking up more points on Thursday night.

One negative for the Cypriots is that they have won just one of their last seven games on home soil in World Cup qualifiers. They have also suffered consecutive defeats against the visitors in competitive action.

The visitors are still very much in the fight for qualification. Top spot may be beyond Mehmed Bazdarevic’s side, but finishing in the runners-up spot is a real prospect. They will kick this game off just one point behind second place Greece and will be confident of securing a win in Nicosia.

Bosnia-Herzegovina have experienced mixed fortunes in the group so far, but are unbeaten in their last four games. In fact, their only defeat was a 4-0 hammering against group leaders Belgium. The defeat against the Red Devils was also their only defeat on their travels in the last seven away games in qualifying.

Last time out in qualifying they drew 1-1 in Greece, which could prove a crucial result in their quest for World Cup qualification.

Forebet predicts that Cyprus will hold the visitors to a draw and hamper their hopes leapfrogging Greece into second place in the group table.