Preview: Belarus vs Syria - prediction, team news, lineups

Belarus and Syria will clash at the Stadyen Dynama on Friday evening in an international friendly fixture.

The hosts head into the meeting off the back of consecutive wins, while the visitors snapped their winless run last time out.

Match preview

Belarus endured a miserable second half of 2025, failing to win any of their seven games, including four defeats and two draws during their World Cup qualifying campaign.

Those results saw Belarus finish rock bottom of UEFA qualifying Group C, meaning the White Whings have still failed to ever secure an appearance at the finals of a FIFA World Cup.

However, Belarus enter into Friday's fixture in far healthier form, having won each of their two matches since the turn of the year.

Viktor Goncharenko, who was appointed manager in January 2026, guided Belarus to a 1-0 win against Cyprus before overseeing a superb 2-1 victory over Armenia, and the White Wings boss will now be hoping to maintain his 100% record when they take on Syria.

A victory for Belarus would also extend their winning run to three straight matches, something they have not achieved since recording three consecutive wins at the beginning of 2025.

Meanwhile, Syria, who also failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, head into Friday's meeting off the back of a fantastic 5-1 triumph against Afghanistan in March - a victory which ensured they finished at the top of AFC Asian Cup qualifying Group E.

That result marked Syria's sixth victory in their last 10 matches, alongside three draws and just one defeat - a 1-0 loss to Morocco in the quarter-finals of the Arab Cup.

Jose Lana will be hopeful his side can make it back-to-back wins when they take on Belarus, which would mark their first-ever win against the White Wings, having lost 1-0 in their only previous meeting in 2022.

Belarus International Friendlies form:

W W W L W W

Belarus form (all competitions):

L L D D W W

Syria International Friendlies form:

L D D L L D

Syria form (all competitions):

W W D D L W

Team News

Goncharenko has overseen wins in each of his first two matches in charge, including a superb 2-1 win against Armenia in their last outing, and the manager may opt to name a largely unchanged side on Friday.

Max Ebong and Evgeniy Yablonskiy are the two most-capped players in Belarus' squad, and the experienced duo are likely to start alongside Valeri Gromyko in the middle of the park.

Syria similarly secured a victory in their last match, recording an emphatic 5-1 win over Afghanistan, meaning Lana could also look to name an unchanged team.

One exception could see Mohammed Al-Mustafa come into the starting team after the forward arrived from the bench to score twice in that win.

Belarus possible starting lineup:

Pavlyuchenko; Begunov, Volkov, Gomanov, Pechenin; Gromyko, Yablonskiy, Ebong; Shumansky, Morozov, Kovalev

Syria possible starting lineup:

Shakir; Hannan, Alshami, Mohammmad, Kerdagli; Askar, Abraham; Al-Mawas, Al-Aswad, Al-Mustafa; Al Dali

We say: Belarus 2-1 Syria

Although Syria will be boosted by their 5-1 victory last time out, Belarus, who will also be backed by a home crowd, have enjoyed a fantastic run of results, including back-to-back wins under their new manager.

Given Belarus' impressive form, we are backing the home side to make it three straight wins on Friday.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.