EURO 2020 qualifiers have come to a close this Tuesday, November 19, unveiling the 20 qualified teams who will compete at the UEFA EURO tournament next summer. Throughout the qualifications, we got served with many thrilling fixtures, upset wins and surprising results, however, it would be safe to say the last two rounds proved to be the most exciting of all. Now let’s take a look back at what happened in round nine and 10 and which teams qualified from their respective groups.
EURO 2020 qualifiers – Groups and Standings
Group A
Not many surprises in group A, where England and the Czech Republic finished 10 and four points ahead of third-placed Kosovo respectively. The group was already dedicated ahead of the last round, where England defeated Kosovo 4:0, while the Czech Republic dropped a match against Bulgaria (0:1). While by no means a praiseworthy result for the Czech national team, we must take into consideration the result of the said match did not matter. Despite finishing third and failing to win either of their fixtures in last two rounds, Kosovo earned a spot in the promotion qualifiers, where they will meet with north Macedonia on Tuesday, November 26.
Group B
Group B introduced Ukraine and Portugal as two teams who earned a spot at the main event. Portugal started off slow but managed to win both of their last two fixtures against Lithuania (6:0) and Luxemburg (0:2), which earned them a direct promotion. Ukraine on the other side dominated the group throughout, ending the qualifiers with 6-2-0 record next to their name. Serbia, unfortunately, failed to catch up to Portugal, finishing three points short. That said, they also earned a spot in the promotion qualifiers, where they will meet with Norway on Tuesday, November 26.
Group C
Netherlands (6-1-1) and Germany (7-0-1) came through the qualifiers with dominant performances, finishing six points above Northern Ireland, who suffered a disastrous finish of their qualifying venture. North Ireland failed to win a single fixture in the last four rounds (0-1-3) which cost them a direct promotion. Nonetheless, they still performed well enough to make it into the additional qualifying round, where they are set to meet with Bosnia.
Group D
Switzerland and Denmark are the two teams who made it out of group D. Ireland on the other side failed to grab their chance for a direct promotion by failing to win against Switzerland (2:0) and Denmark (1:1) in their last fixture of the qualifiers. It was a painful defeat, however, the road for Ireland does not end here. They will be given another shot at making it into EURO 2020 tournament via additional qualifiers, where they will meet with Slovakia in the semi-finals.
Group E
Croatia and Wales impressed and claimed the top two seeds in group D. Out of the two, however, it’s Wales who went above and beyond all expectations with a perfect 2-0 run in last two rounds. There they defeated Azerbaijan (0:2) and Hungary (2:0). Slovakia, who were handed a chance to pass Wales dropped the ball against Croatia in round nine (1:3). Despite defeating Azerbaijan (2:0) in round 10, Slovakia ended the group stage one point short of making it into the top two. They will compete in the additional qualifiers, where they will meet with Ireland.
Group F
Spain claimed the top seed of group F long ago, leaving the remaining teams to battle it out for the second seed. In the end, it was Sweden who came out ahead of their neighbours Norway by defeating both Romaina (2:0) and Faroe Islands (3:0) in the last two rounds. Despite producing a perfect 2-0 run in their last two rounds of qualifiers, Norway finished four points short of breaking into the top two. They will now have another shot at making it to the main event via additional qualifiers, where Norway will meet with Serbia.
Group G
Poland (25 points) and Austria (19 points) clinched the top two seeds in group G, with Slovenia and North Macedonia tied at third, both with 14 points. The group was decided even before teams entered the last two rounds, seeing howe Austria and Poland already had a huge lead ahead of other teams. That said, the race for the third seed was still on between North Macedonia and Slovenia. In the end, it was North Macedonia who finished ahead of Slovenia who failed to win their round 10 fixture against Poland (3:2). North Macedonia will not fight in the additional qualifiers, where they will meet with Kosovo.
Group H
Much like group G, group H was decided even before teams entered the ninth round. France and Turkey had a significant lead ahead of Iceland and the remainder of the group and deservingly claimed the top two seeds. Iceland impressed and managed to claim the third seed with 19 points, which sent them directly into the semi-finals of additional qualifiers.
Group I
In group I, there were not many surprises. Belgium and Russia earned the tickets for EURO 2020 by claiming 30 and 24 points respectively, which was far more compared to any other teams in the group. Scotland finished the qualifiers with three consecutive wins against San Marino (6:0), Cyprus (1:2) and Kazakhstan (3:1), which earned them 15 points and promotion into the semi-finals of additional qualifiers.
Group J
Italy and Finland emerged as the top two teams in group J. Italy ended their qualifiers with a perfect 10-0-0 record, while Finland finished their venture with 6-0-4. In the last two rounds, Finland defeated Lichtenstein (3:0) and lost to Greece (2:1), which earned the Greek national team third-place finish. Unfortunately, they ended their qualifiers with 14 points, which was not enough to secure a spot in the additional qualifiers.
Who qualified on EURO 2020?
Qualified teams: England, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Croatia, Wales, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Austria, France, Turkey, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Finland.
With the EURO 2020 qualifiers finished, we still have promotional fixtures left to be played. All of the said fixtures will be played on Tuesday, November 26 and it will feature the following fixtures:
Who else can qualify on EURO 2020?
Bosnia vs Northern Ireland
Slovakia vs Ireland
Norway vs Serbia
Georgia vs Belarus
North Macedonia vs Kosovo
Iceland and Scotland earned a direct promotion into the semi-finals.
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