The 2024 European Cup qualifiers have entered the final round. At present, 21 teams have locked their seats in the competition, and three more seats will be created through the play offs. In this fierce competition, some teams have already celebrated in advance, some teams are still struggling, and some teams have returned disappointed. This article will focus on Europe
The 2024 European Cup qualifiers have entered the final round. At present, 21 teams have locked their seats in the competition, and three more seats will be created through the play offs. In this fierce competition, some teams have already celebrated in advance, some teams are still struggling, and some teams have returned disappointed. This article will analyze the qualifying rules and the situation of each group in the European Cup qualifiers to see which teams are expected to break through and which teams are facing crisis.
First of all, let's take a look at the qualifying rules of the European Cup. A total of 53 teams from UEFA member associations participated in the European Cup qualifiers. As the host team, Germany automatically obtained the qualification. 53 teams are divided into 10 groups, of which 7 groups have 5 teams and 3 groups have 6 teams. The group matches adopt the home and away double round robin competition system, and the top two of each group will directly qualify for the European Cup, with a total of 20 places. In addition, a total of 12 teams of the League of European Nations at Level A, Level B and Level C are the first to participate in the play off. If a team has passed the preliminary contest to qualify for the European Cup, the team with the best performance at its level will participate in the play off. If there are not enough teams available in the same level of league, the qualification for the play off will be given priority to Estonia with the best performance in Level D. If there are still four teams left, they will be allocated according to the full ranking of UEFA 2022-23. The play offs are divided into three groups, with four teams in each group. The semi-finals and finals adopt the single match elimination competition system. The champions of each group are qualified for the European Cup, with a total of three places. With the host Germany, a total of 24 teams will participate in the 2024 European Cup.
Next, let's take a look at the situation of each group of European Cup qualifiers. Up to now, the competition schedule of Group A, Group C, Group E, Group F, Group G, Group H and Group J has all been completed. The top two teams in each group have directly qualified for the European Cup. The rest of the teams in the same group are allocated the number of play offs according to the performance of the UEFA, and will be eliminated if no score is reached. Group B, Group D and Group I have the last round left, which is still in suspense. The following are the details of each group:
Group A: Spain and Scotland joined hands in the promotion, and Norway was out early and failed to qualify for the play offs. Georgia is the first place in Group D of Level C and directly qualified for the play offs.
Group B. Greece failed to pass through, but they were the first in Group B of Level B and had priority in qualifying for the play offs.
Group C: England showed strong performance and got the qualification ahead of time. The Italian team had a rough road, and finally did not lose the initiative through unremitting efforts. In the last round of the group, Italy and Ukraine fought directly. Because Italy won the first round 2-1, so Italy can ensure its qualification as long as it draws in the last round. If Italy loses, it will participate in the play off, and Ukraine will go straight through.
Group D: Turkey locked in the top two of the group and advanced to the European Cup. Croatia is 2 points ahead of Wales. Croatia's record against Wales is 1 draw and 1 loss. It must defeat Armenia in the final round to ensure qualification. Wales is in a passive situation, and must defeat Turkey in the final round, and also depends on the results of another game. If Croatia and Wales lose, Armenia will reverse and advance.
Group E: Albania locked the top two of the group and got one qualification seat. The Czech team directly fought with Moldova in the last round, and qualified in the group after a draw. At that time, Moldova in the away game must score 3 points.
Group F: Austria and Belgium locked in the top two of the group and joined hands to qualify for the European Cup. The Swedish team's record is poor, and the qualification for the play off is not available. Azerbaijan has the opportunity to participate in the play off.
Group G: Hungary locked in the top two of the group and advanced to the European Cup. Serbia is 2 points ahead of Montenegro, and they will fight each other and double kill each other, so Serbia will go out when it draws in the final round. Montenegro played Hungary in the final round, and must take all three points to have a chance of survival, otherwise, they would not be qualified for the play off.
Group H. Slovenia will be out directly after losing, while Kazakhstan still has the chance to play off.
Group I: Romania and Switzerland both locked in the top two of the group, and the two teams qualified for the European Cup in advance. Israel lost this round, so it missed the chance to qualify directly, and will participate in the play off next.
Group J: Portugal and Slovakia will join hands to qualify. Luxembourg will take part in the play off, and Iceland will have the opportunity to take part in the play off.
In short, the European Cup qualifiers have entered the final round, and there are still three places to be selected through the play offs. In this fierce competition, some teams have already celebrated in advance, while others are still struggling
