National coach Domenico Tedesco was not inclined to experiment much in the remaining European Championship qualifying matches, because the final score in the group is important for the draw of the 6 European Championship groups.
On December 2 in Hamburg, 24 countries will go into 4 pots (of 6). Germany has been automatically placed as host country and is certainly in pot 1. The other 23 countries are divided among the pots based on their results in the qualifying campaign.
Countries 1 to 5 in the total ranking of the European Championship qualifications go to pot 1, numbers 6 to 11 to pot 2, etc.
It is therefore important for the Belgians to become group winners with as many points as possible. Then they are assured of a place in pot 1 of the seeds and avoid countries such as Germany and perhaps France and Portugal in the group stage.
Belgium is currently leading in Group F with 16 points (5 wins, 1 draw), as many as Austria and 10 more than Sweden.
The result of Belgium-Sweden, tied at 1-1 at half time, has not yet been settled. The 2 countries would like to keep the 1-1, so good for 1 point each. UEFA will decide on the outcome by Friday at the latest.
If Belgium beats Azerbaijan at home on the final match day on November 19, Austria can at most equalize with a win in Estonia. But the mutual result is decisive (in Brussels: 1-1, in Vienna: 2-3).
If we look at the first country in the other groups, we see that Belgium – assuming a point against Sweden – will almost certainly be in pot 1 if they win against Azerbaijan. Then it counts 20 points.
France (Group B) and Portugal (Group J) can remain undefeated, England (Group C) can still get 22 points, Spain and Scotland (Group A) can both still get 21 points. There is still 1 spot left in pot 1.
The fact that Hungary drew in Lithuania yesterday (2-2) suits the Belgians well. Hungary can still become group winners with a maximum of 20 points with 2 more matches. Then Hungary and Belgium will be group winners with the same number of points, the next condition is the goal difference.
Belgium is at +13, Hungary at +7. Hungary still has 2 matches, in Bulgaria and at home against Montenegro, to do better. But then things should already be strange, because some Belgian goals are also expected against Azerbaijan.
What is the state of affairs in the other groups?
Group A: 1. Spain 15 pts, 2. Scotland 15 (both still 2 matches)
Group B: 1. France 18 pts, 2. Netherlands 12 (both still 2 matches)
Group C: 1. England 16 pts, 2. Ukraine 13, 3. Italy 10 (2 more matches, Ukraine 1)
Group D: 1. Turkey 16 pts, 2. Wales 10, 3. Croatia 10 (2 more matches, Turkey 1)
Group E: 1. Albania 13 pts, 2. Czech Republic 11 (2 more matches)
Group G: 1. Hungary 14 pts, 2. Serbia 13 (Hungary 2 matches, Serbia 1)
Group H (6 countries): 1. Slovenia 19 pts, 2. Denmark 19 (2 more matches)
Group I (6 countries): 1. Romania 16, 2. Switzerland 15 (3 more matches, Romania 2)
Group J (6 countries): 1. Portugal 24, 2. Slovakia 16 (2 more matches)
Please note: in groups with 6 countries, the results against the 6th place do not count in the final ranking.
The overall ranking of the European Championship qualifications uses 9 criteria, in the given order:
2023-10-18 09:09:00
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