The group stage of the European Football Championship has come to an end in Germany, following which 16 participants in the playoffs were identified. Sport recalls all the most important things that happened during the first 36 matches of Euro 2024, and talks about the participants in the 1/8 finals.
The main thing
- Entered the playoffs from first place in the groups: Germany, Spain, England, Austria, Romania, Portugal;
- Received a ticket to 1/8 finals thanks to second place: Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, France, Belgium and Turkey;
- Four best teams in third place ranking (promoted to the playoffs): Georgia, The Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia;
- Leaving the tournament: Hungary, Croatia, Scotland, Albania, Serbia, Poland, Ukraine and the Czech Republic.
The Spaniards are merciless. The top teams that met the expectations of fans in the group stage can be counted on the fingers of one hand. One of these teams (and the only one to score maximum points) was Spain. Luis de la Fuente's men progressed through Group B in perfect rhythm — three wins and not a single goal conceded. Fans of the Spanish national team saw a hail of goals only in the meeting with Croatia, but the dominance in every match was obvious.
The hosts of the tournament are also good. Although the Germans drew with the Swiss in the final round of the group stage, they looked absolutely unshakable in the first two matches. Just look at the five goals scored by the Germans in the opening match of the tournament!
The Portuguese also looked like a formidable force in the first and second rounds, but in the last game the team unexpectedly lost to Georgia, which created the main sensation of the tournament at the moment.
Group stage surprises Austria and Romania (the cheapest team according to the Transfermarkt portal) are on fire. Ralf Rangnick's team managed to take first place in a group with France and the Netherlands, beating the latter in a thrilling shootout in the last round. The Romanians turned out to be the best in Quartet E, where all teams had the same number of points (and this, for a second, is Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine).
But Georgia, despite the third place, can be praised and praised… Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and company reached the 1/8 finals, coming to the European Championship for the first time! This is an amazing story, which cannot happen without a sensational victory over the Portuguese — we have no doubt that the country will be walking today and dreaming about the quarter-finals (and it’s not scary that a meeting with the formidable Spain will follow).
The main favorites were upset… but still made it to the playoffs. England and France showed a toothless game in attack (four goals between them, one of which was an own goal) and, unlike the teams mentioned above, have not yet made it clear how the founders of football and the “tricolors” are going to take the trophy. Similar questions remain for Italy: the reigning European champions barely got past Albania, lost without a chance to Spain (the 0:1 score does not fully reflect the superiority of the Furies Roja) and at the last moment saved themselves in the match with the Croats.
Football players from the Netherlands also do not deserve compliments (they came third after losing to the Austrians). The same can be said about the Belgians, who failed the start of the tournament, stumbled in the meeting with the Slovaks, and now risk being eliminated by the French in the 1/8 finals.
But we’ll talk about the pairs of the next stage of the European Championship a little later.
The grief of Croatia and Ukraine “Checkers” shocked… Silver and bronze medalists of the last world championships failed in the “group” of death, suffering a crushing defeat from the Spaniards and failing to retain victory in matches with Albanians and Italians. Two points in three matches — with such a result you won’t get out of third place in the playoffs, so Luka Modric is packing his bags.
Ukraine also failed. “Zhovto-blakitnye” were seen as Belgium’s main opponent in the quartet, but the defeat from the Romanians (0:3) in the first round confused all the cards and buried the hopes of Alexander Zinchenko and company to repeat the success of three years ago (Euro 2020 quarterfinals).
< Sergei Rebrov's team became the first team in the history of the European Championship to finish last in the group with four points to their name.
Scotland also did not go well (destruction in the opening match by the Germans crippled the Tartan Army), Poland and Serbia (both have two losses and a draw).
What else was memorable about the group stage
- Portugal record holders. Two old-timers of the national team immediately set impressive achievements: the eternal defender Pepe became the oldest footballer in the history of the Euro (41 years and 113 days, breaking the record of the Hungarian goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly), and Ronaldo played in his sixth European Championship.
- Own goals. There are an abnormal number of them. The fans saw the first curiosity already in the opening match, when the Scots celebrated the mistake of Antonio Rudiger, and in total there were already seven own goals.
- Mbappe's mask. The main star of the French national team painfully flew into the shoulder of an Austrian defender in the first match of the tournament and broke his nose. The forward returned in the final game of the group stage. He was not allowed to play in a mask painted in the colors of the French flag, so Kylian came out wearing a black one… And he even quarreled with Robert Lewandowski over it.
- Lukaku's disallowed goalsRomelu is the main loser of the group stage. The striker could have been one of the top scorers of the tournament, but the referees deprived him of goals scored three times.
- Scandalous statement by a Rubin playerFor Rubin striker Mirlind Daku, the Euro ended even faster than for his team. After the first game, the Albanian footballer shouted offensive chants against the Macedonians along with the fans, for which he was suspended for two matches.
- The fastest goal in Euro historyAlbanian strikers were noted at the tournament not only with a minus sign. Nedim Bajrami scored the Italian team's goal in the 23rd second of the match, and this goal became the fastest in the history of the European Championships. He blocked the achievement of our Dmitry Kirichenko, who scored against the Greeks at Euro 2004 in the 67th second.
- The youngest player in the history of the European Championships. Another record fell during the Euro group stage. Spaniard Lamin Yamal appeared on the field in the match against Croatia and at the age of 16 years and 338 days, setting a historical achievement. The young man even gave an assist.
All pairs of 1/8 finals
- Switzerland — Italy;
- Germany — Denmark;
- England — Slovakia;
- Spain — Georgia;
- France — Belgium;
- Portugal — Slovenia;
- Romania — Netherlands;
- Austria — Turkey.
You can view the playoff bracket here.
Top scorers 3— Georges Mikautadze (Georgia).
2— Niklas Füllkrug and Jamal Musiala (Germany), Ivan Schranz (Slovakia), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Razvan Marin (Romania).
CalendarThe Olympic system (knockout) begins. There is no match for bronze — the losers in the semi-finals will become Euro bronze medalists.
- The 1/8 final stage will take place from June 29 to July 2 .
- The quarter-final matches are scheduled for July 5 and 6.
- We will see the semi-finals on July 9 and 10.< /li>
The decisive match of the tournament will be played on July 14 in Berlin. Starts at 22:00 Moscow time.