The Finns haven’t returned home for the time being, even though it looked like they’d said goodbye before they left the St. Petersburg stadium. Your fans, who had come in large numbers despite the rapidly increasing Corona numbers in Russia, didn’t want to leave, cling to the moment, that’s how it looked.
They just kept on singing, even when the team came out of the locker room to say thanks after the 2-0 draw against Belgium in the last group game. But because it was theoretically still possible for the team to be one of the four best group thirds for the round of 16 at the first European Championship, the plan was initially to drive to the team quarters in Repino towards the Finnish border, in nearby Zelenogorsk train – and wait.
This time it is the Finns, among others, who exemplify the advantages and disadvantages of the 24-team mode that was used for the second time at this European Championship. One advantage is obvious: in a field with 16 teams, like the one that existed at EM 2012, they might not have made it at all. And then none of that would have happened: the football euphoria in ice hockey country, almost half of all Finns in front of the television; the story of an outsider with remarkably unpretentious characters.
The disadvantages are arithmetic games as they occur in the final minutes of every last group game day. In the event of a tie, there is always a scenario that in the end the yellow card statistics have to decide whether to advance. The disadvantage is also the uncertainty for the third party of what their third place is worth. In 2016, the Albanians waited three days before they knew they had left.
In 2016, it was criticized that more teams diluted the level – this time only to a limited extent
For the fans who want to follow their team, this time the different venues and the pandemic make waiting twice as uncomfortable. You can find out at short notice whether your team is playing in a country to which you want to travel with a clear conscience and which you are allowed to do at all. On the other hand, the teams in Group F have an advantage because they decide the preliminary round and already know which results will be enough for them to advance even as third.
In 2016, it was criticized that more teams diluted the level. The games in the preliminary round were often difficult to watch. That, after all, only applies to a limited extent this time. In addition to the biggest outsider North Macedonia, Turkey was hardly competitive either. But otherwise there is no team that falls significantly behind.
The idea with 24 teams goes back to the former Uefa President Michel Platini, it was considered his electoral promise kept. It is of course lucrative for the association because it means more games and more television viewers in more countries. There will hardly be a return to 16 teams. Probably the only solution to get rid of the absurd model with the best group thirds would be a typical football one: Then just more, 32 teams. For the Finns this would mean that they could no longer tell a nice outsider story. They’d rather belong to the middle class.
.
