The national team kicks off its World Cup qualifying campaign with a very tough test against Russia at the National Stadium on Wednesday night (kick-off: 20.45).

Devis Mangia’s team head into this qualifying campaign on the back of a very positive UEFA Nations League campaign which saw the team manage to finish as runners-up in their group with a record tally of nine points.

However, now the players are bracing themselves to a far much tougher test as while in the Nations League they came up against some of the European minnows such as the Faroe Islands, Latvia and Andorra, the World Cup qualifiers have pitted the team as some of the best sides on the continent such as Russia, quarter-finalists in the 2018 World Cup which they hosted.

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