Stale Solbakken's Norway begin the long road to 2026 with their first-ever meeting with Kazakhstan, playing with the incentive of a possible play-off spot that could come with a good performance in this section.

With Austria and Slovenia also in Group B3, all four teams will be fancying their chances of being competitive, but for that to happen, Norway will have to improve significantly on their recent competitive performances.

The late collapse against Scotland in Euro 2024 qualifying, which ultimately cost them a place at the finals, will still be fresh in the minds of the Norwegian faithful, as will the two points they dropped in Georgia.

Had they not capitulated late on in their last Nations League campaign, they could have been back on the play-off route, but despite taking 10 points from their opening four games, Norway lost their last two matches to surrender top spot to Serbia.

These latest results only increase the pressure on Solbakken and superstars Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard to deliver over the next three months.

For starters, Solbakken will be looking to avoid back-to-back defeats for only the second time as Norway coach, having lost 3-1 to Denmark last time out.

Kazakhstan, however, are unlikely to make things easy for themselves as they look to continue their rise on the international stage after a brilliant Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.

Six wins from 10 almost saw Kazakhstan qualify for their first major tournament since independence, but they finished four points short of automatic qualification and were forced into the play-offs, where they were beaten comfortably by Greece.

That play-off place was secured by promotion from League C in 2022, as home and away wins over Slovakia helped them finish top of their section on 13 points, just weeks after surviving relegation to League D with wins over Moldova.

The man leading them into their first campaign in League B is Stanislav Cherchesov, the manager who coached Russia at their home World Cup in 2018, taking them agonisingly close to the semi-finals before losing to Croatia on penalties.

Cherchesov's first priority will be to end a four-match losing streak that has seen his side lose every game so far at 2024, including friendlies against Armenia and Azerbaijan in June.

Kazakhstan possible starting lineup:

Shatskiy; Kairov, Bystrov, Marochkin, Alip, Vorogovskiy; Chesnokov, Kuat, Zaynutdinov, Orazov; Aimbetov

Norway possible starting lineup:

Nyland; Ryerson, Hanche-Olsen, Ostigard, Pedersen; Odegaard, Berge, Thorsby; Sorloth, Haaland, Nusa

Prediction:Kazakhstan 1-2 Norway

Kazakhstan VS Norway stream and TV listing

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