This Saturday three new countries secured their presence at the Euro 2024, Romania, Swiss and Netherlandswhile Francealready with the classification in their pocket, gave a memorable beating to the modest Gibraltar.
The Netherlands, which beat Ireland 1-0, will thus return to a competition in which it won the title in 1992. The Dutch won by the minimum in Amsterdam to secure second place in group B (15 points), behind France ( 21 points).
Hoffenheim striker Wout Weghorst scored the winning goal for the Oranje in the 12th minute, enough to take the three points despite dangerous incursions by Ireland.
Ronald Koeman’s men have won five of their seven games, losing only in the double match against Les Bleus. The Dutch have not shined in the Euro Cup for a long time, a tournament to which they did not even qualify in 2016. In their last appearance in the European tournament they lost in the round of 16 against the Czech Republic (2-0).
In group I, Romania and Switzerland fulfilled the predictions that gave them as favorites of the key. The two nations, with 19 and 17 points respectively, have secured the two qualifying spots before the last date.
A draw was enough for the Swiss if Israel did not defeat Romania. And they did not fail with a goal from Rubén Vargas (45+2), while Kosovo equalized in the 82nd minute through Muhamet Hyseni.
In Hungary, where the other decisive match of the afternoon took place, George Puscas and Ianis Hagi gave Romania the victory against Israel, which had however taken the lead in the early stages of the match with a goal from Eran Zahavi.
The Romanians, who were not in the Euro Cup in 2021, will experience their sixth presence in the continental tournament in Germany next year. ‘La Nati’, for its part, was a quarterfinalist two years ago.
Netherlands, Romania and Switzerland join the list of already qualified for Euro 2024, which includes Germany (host), Albania, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Hungary, Portugal, Scotland, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey .
In Nice, in a match with little at stake, a shower of goals, a record and a group lead in the bag: France overwhelmed the modest Gibraltar 14-0, achieving the largest victory in its history to ensure being seeded for Euro 2024.
Already qualified for the European championship (June 14-July 14), Les Bleus had one last mission to accomplish in group B, to avoid unwanted surprises in the tournament draw, on December 2 in Hamburg. But against one of the weakest nations on the planet, 198th in the FIFA rankings, the task turned out to be a bed of roses for the current world runner-up.
If France had solved the procedure without much brilliance in the first leg in September (3-0), on this occasion they did not take pity on their rival, who was suffocated from the start and who was also soon left with ten men.
This historic demonstration, which shattered the 10-0 defeat inflicted on Azerbaijan in 1995, will not, however, add special glory to Didier Deschamps’ troops, given the abysmal difference in level between the two teams.
But in any case France sealed its seventh victory in as many games in this qualifying phase before the last match, on Tuesday in Greece.
The result allowed almost the entire team to sign up for the scoring feast. Visiting Ethan Santos opened the scoring with an own goal (3) before Marcus Thuram’s second goal for France (4), followed by 17-year-old Warren Zaïre-Emery (16), Kylian Mbappé (30 from a penalty, 74, 82), Jonathan Clauss (34), Kingsley Coman (36, 65), Youssouf Fofana (37), Adrien Rabiot (63), Ousmane Dembélé (73) and Olivier Giroud (88, 90+1), the latter maximum director with the Blues (56 goals).
Qualifying positions for Euro 2024
Group A: Spain 18 points; Scotland 16; Norway 10; Georgia 8; Cyprus 0.
Group B: France 21 points; Netherlands 15; Greece 12; Ireland 6; Gibraltar 0.
Group C: England 19 points; Italy and Ukraine 13; Macedonia 7; Malta 0.
Group D: Türkiye 16 points; Croatia 13; Wales 11; Armenia 8; Latvia 3.
Group E: Albania 14 points; Czech Republic 12; Poland 11; Moldova 10; Faroe Islands 1.
Group F: Austria 19 points; Belgium 17; Sweden and Azerbaijan 7; Estonia 1.
Group G: Hungary 15 points; Serbia 13; Montenegro 11; Lithuania 6; Bulgaria 3.
Group H: Denmark 22 points; Slovenia 19; Kazakhstan 18; Finland 15; Northern Ireland 6; San Marino 0.
Group I: Romania 19 points; Switzerland 17; Israel 12; Kosovo 11; Belarus 9; Andorra 2.
Group J: Portugal 27 points; Slovakia 19; Luxembourg 14; Iceland 10; Bosnia 9; Liechtenstein 0.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
