The play-off matches, which will close the list of national teams participating in Euro 2024, will be played between 21 and 26 March. It is interesting to understand how electoral bands work and what the criteria are for the formation of bands.
How do European rankings work?
For the first time in history on June 14 Germany Will Host the European Championship After the Berlin Wall football on home soil. Already in 1988, the Germans were the organizers of the competition, as were West Germany; In 2020, which was played in more than one country, four matches were played at the Olympiastadion in Munich.
What we want to delve into in this article is about the composition of the groups, how we arrive at the group draws, what is still missing to describe the full picture, and how the group draws are created. ranking system, selection criteriaeverything related to the technical structure of the tournament.
Selection criteria for groups at the European Championship
Let’s start with what is already clear and crystalline. The twenty-four participating teams are divided into six groups of four teams each through the elimination groups mechanism. The national teams in the first two places in the ten groups go directly to the draw, while the remaining three places (twenty-fourth team) Germany, host country and inside from the right) yes They will decide through three different play-offs.
Before turning to the play-offs, it is worth focusing on how the group composition drawn in Hamburg on December 2, 2023 has developed. Teams were divided into four qualifying categories; This ranking was prepared starting from a special ranking. Points earned by teams in the qualifying groupsas if they were one group.
In addition to Germany, the five group winners with total points were also included in the first pot. more points: Portugal (24 points, eight wins from eight matches), France (22), Spain (21), Belgium and England (20): These teams never had a chance of being placed in the same group as seeded teams.
Then, in the second box, here’s what’s next five group winners The runners-up have the most points and the best in terms of points collected: Hungary (18), Turkey (17), Denmark and Romania (16), Albania (15) and Austria F, second in the group, scored 19 points behind Belgium.
In the third bag, here group of best runners-up: Netherlands (18), Scotland (17), Croatia (16), Slovenia (16), Slovakia (16) and Czech Republic (15). Finally, the remaining runners-up in the last slot and the future winners of the play-off: Italy and Serbia with 14 points, Switzerland with 11 points.
Selection of teams and formation of groups for the playoffs
Italy, which managed to qualify for Euro 2024, where it showed itself as the last champion, only at the last breath, with a narrow draw with Ukraine, definitely did not leave a good impression. Spalletti’s arrival on the Azzurri bench, at least we hope so. give me some fresh air However, the draw certainly did not put a smile on the face of the Italian national team, who were involved in the last round and could not hope for anything smooth.
The Italian team in group B will challenge the very talented Spain. An Albania that shows that it is growing A Croatia that has grown exponentially and, despite being at the end of the cycle, still finished third at the last World Cup and has accustomed its audience to outstanding performances in major tournaments.
As stated in the first part of this analysis of the composition criteria of the Euro 2024 groups, the teams that will qualify from the three elimination play-offs still lack the ability to close the circle. The national teams in question had the opportunity to play one last card on a February basis. Results achieved in the Nations League 2022-2023UEFA’s strategy is precisely designed to bring prestige to the new tournament.
In Group D, the Netherlands, Austria and France await the winner of the play-offs, where they will meet in the semi-finals and finals. Wales and Finland on one side, Poland and Estonia on the other. The favorite of this mini-tournament and the most competent candidate to fly to Germany is Lewandoski’s Poland.
Belgium, Slovakia and Romania, as well as the winner of the play-off, will face each other in Group E. Bosnia against Ukraine, Israel against Iceland. In this case, the more balanced forecast seems to be in favor of Ukraine.
Finally, Turkey, Portugal and the Czech Republic will meet the winners of the direct elimination rounds, in which Georgia and Luxembourg, and Greece and Kazakhstan will compete, as the fourth qualifier. This turned out to be a play-off of surprises. But it’s hard not to give him the upper handEven to Greece just for the international experience of its staff.
