Football national team to kick off year against Sweden in Abu Dhabi
The national football team will play its first game of 2016 against Sweden in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates on January 6. The game will be shown live on ETV2.
As the match is an unofficial friendly, the teams will be made up of players from the two domestic leagues. Many Estonian national team players have returned to play in Estonia's top league, while Sweden's Malmö FF made it to the Champions League group stage this year.
The match will begin at 17:45 Estonian time.
The two teams have met 15 times starting in 1921 in Tallinn in a game which ended 0-0. The last time Estonia played Sweden was in September 2014 in Solna, Sweden. The hosts won that game 2-0. Year 2015 ended well for Estonia, who beat Georgia and St. Kitts and Nevis both 3-0 in friendly matches in Tallinn.
Sweden recently beat Denmark in the play-offs to the 2016 European Championships in the summer, where it will face Belgium, Italy and the Republic of Ireland.
Estonia's first competitive match next year will take place in September when it travels to Bosnia and Herzegovina for the first 2018 World Cup qualifier. Estonia will also face Greece, Belgium and Cyprus in the group.
In addition, a friendly against Russia will take place in Estonia in October.
Editor: J.M. Laats