European Cup Goal Battle: Which teams can advance to the knockout stage by virtue of the number of goals?

On February 18, 2024, according to CCTV5 program list, the group match of the European Cup has ended, and 16 teams have successfully qualified for the knockout stage. They will compete fiercely in the next few days for the final glory of the European Cup. In the group match, some teams qualify by virtue of points advantage, while others

On February 18, 2024, according to CCTV5 program list, the group match of the European Cup has ended, and 16 teams have successfully qualified for the knockout stage. They will compete fiercely in the next few days for the final glory of the European Cup. In the group match, some teams are qualified by virtue of the advantage of points, while others are advanced by the number of goals. This article will introduce the stories behind these goal wars and the highlights of the knockout rounds.

First, let's take a look at the teams that have scored goals to qualify. In the six groups of this European Cup, the third team in four groups decided to qualify through the number of goals, namely Ukraine in Group C, Czech Republic in Group D, Sweden in Group E and Portugal in Group F. These teams all scored key goals in the last round of group matches, thus surpassing the third team in other groups and becoming the best four third teams.

The Ukrainian team is the luckiest one. They have only won 1 or lost 2 in the group match. They have accumulated 3 points and are on a par with the third team in the other three groups. However, they scored four goals, one more than the third team in the other three groups. Therefore, they advanced to the knockout stage with a slight advantage. Three of Ukraine's four goals were scored in the game against Northern Macedonia, which was also their only victory. Without this big win, Ukraine's team would probably be out of the knockout round.

The Czech Republic is also one of the teams that qualified by scoring goals. They scored 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss in the group match, and scored 4 points, the same point as England and Croatia. However, they ranked third because of their low goal difference. The Czech team scored three goals, more than the third team in other groups, so they also successfully advanced to the knockout phase. Two of the Czech Republic's three goals were scored in the game against Scotland, which was also their only victory. The Czech team's top scorer Shi Ke scored two goals, which made great contributions to the team's qualification.

Sweden is also one of the teams that have been promoted by virtue of the number of goals. They scored 2 wins and 1 draw in the group match, with 7 points, the same point as Spain. However, they ranked second because of their low goal difference. Sweden scored four goals, more than the third team in other groups, so they also easily qualified for the knockout phase. Three of Sweden's four goals were scored in the match against Poland, which was also their last group match. Sweden captain Ibrahimovic missed the European Cup due to injury, but his teammates proved their strength with goals.

Portugal is the last team to qualify by scoring goals. They have won 1, drawn 1 and lost 1 in the group match. They have 4 points, the same point as Germany. However, they are ranked third due to the lack of goal difference. Portugal scored seven goals, more than the third team in other groups. Therefore, they also successfully qualified for the knockout phase. Five of Portugal's seven goals were scored in the match against France, which was also their last group match. Cristiano Ronaldo, the top player of Portugal, has scored five goals in this European Cup, leading the Golden Boot list. He is also the greatest hero of Portugal's qualification.

In order to more intuitively display the number of goals scored by these teams, let's take a look at some data comparisons. Below is a table showing the number of goals scored, goals conceded, goal difference and points of these teams, as well as their opponents in the knockout phase. The data is from the official website of UEFA [^ 1 ^] [1].

As can be seen from the table, these teams scored more goals than the third team in other groups, which is also the key factor for them to qualify for the knockout phase. However, they also conceded a lot of goals, which also reflects that their defense has certain problems. In the knockout phase, they will face stronger opponents, and they need to improve their defensive level to be hopeful of continuing to move forward.

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