Excitement Builds as Euro 2024 Groups are Officially Set

Drum roll… or rather from Hamburg. It is in this city, which is home to one of the eight stadiums chosen for the tournament, that all the representatives of the nations qualified for Euro 2024 are meeting this Saturday evening to end the suspense. At around 6 p.m., all the balls in the draw will open one after the other to form the six groups of four teams and already give shape to the potential final table.

How it works ?

The 24 balls representing the 24 participants will be distributed into four pots (1, 2, 3 and 4). The draw will begin by placing the teams from pot 1 in the different groups (A to F), knowing that group A is promised to Germany as host country. The place in the group (example: B1, B2, B3 or B4), an important element for the order of matches and the designation of stadiums, will also be allocated at that time. Once pot 1 is emptied, the procedure will be repeated for the other three pots until all six groups are completed. However, there will remain three “holes” at the end of the draw, since the play-offs will not be played until March 2024. Three balls will therefore represent the future winners of the play-offs (Paths A, B and C).

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Opponents to avoid?

As a member of pot 1, the Red Devils will avoid most of the big nations (Germany, Portugal, France, Spain and England) but could still inherit several formidable opponents in pots 2, 3 and 4. A group of death with Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy is therefore possible. Conversely, a more accessible group with Albania, Slovenia and the winner of the Path C jump-off (Georgia, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan and Greece) is also plausible.

The best group for proximity?

Among the eight stadiums, four are located less than 270 km from Brussels (3h30 by car): Düsseldorf (200 km), Cologne (220 km), Gelsenkirchen (250 km) and Dortmund (270 km). And given the distribution of stadiums in the groups, the chances are high that Belgium will play at least one match (maximum two) in one of these cities. Everything will depend on the famous position in the group. If Belgium inherits the F2, for example, it will play in Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen and Hamburg, while the F4 would send twice to Hamburg and once to Leipzig. The positions to expect to play two close matches are as follows: B1, B3, B4, C1, D4, F1, F2, F3.

The best group for the future?

The draw will also already determine the potential opponents in the round of 16 and even in the quarterfinals. And we already know that the winners of groups F and C will inherit a more affordable route to the semi-finals. They will first face one of the best thirds in the round of 16, then fall in the quarterfinals against the winner of a duel between group runners-up. This avoids facing another group winner before the semi-finals. If, on the other hand, Belgium were to finish second in their group, they would have every interest in being in B, D or E to face another second in the round of 16.

Conclusion

The ideal scenario would be to inherit the C1 (5% chance of having it) to play the group stage in Gelsenkirchen, Cologne and Munich, then to inherit an open table for the eighth and quarters, while playing these matches in nearby stadiums: the eighth in Gelsenkirchen, the quarter in Düsseldorf and the semi-final in Dortmund.

The prizes of the draw:

Pot 1: Germany (host), Portugal, France, Spain, Belgium, England

Pot 2: Hungary, Turkey, Romania, Denmark, Albania, Austria

Pot 3: Netherlands, Scotland, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czechia

Pot 4: Italy, Serbia, Switzerland, Winner of play-off A, Winner of play-off B, Winner of play-off C

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2023-12-02 09:33:00
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