Sunday October 13, 2024

20 nations with a spot secured at Euro 2024, 3 spots left

Published : 23 Nov 2023, 22:08

  DF News Desk
A view of an oversized replica of UEFA EURO 2024 match ball at the Olympic Stadium during its presentation. File Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa.

Hosts Germany will welcome 23 other nations at the Euro 2024 next summer and 20 of them have already secured a spot at the tournament, reported dpa.

For the group draw on December 2, Germany will be in Pot 1 with Portugal, France, Spain, Belgium and England.

Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann has stressed that he will worry about the Pot 1 opponents once it's time to face them, but that doesn't mean that the hosts, who are far from their best form, will have an easy group.

One of the worst possible scenarios could see Germany in the same group as Denmark, Croatia and Italy.

Besides Denmark, opponents coming from Pot 2 could include Turkey and Austria, two teams that defeated Germany in the most recent international break, Hungary, Romania and Albania.

Croatia share Pot 3 with the Netherlands, Scotland, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, while Italy are in Pot 4 with Serbia, Switzerland and three teams yet to qualify after the play-offs.

Twelve teams are fighting for the last three spots. Poland, led by top striker Robert Lewandowski are the most notable contenders, while Kazakhstan and Luxembourg are bidding for a chance of making their Euros debut.

Israel, Ukraine, Iceland and Wales are also among the 12 nations still trying to book a ticket to Germany next summer.

The teams will be divided into three paths, each containing four teams, with each play-off path featuring two single-leg semi-finals, and one single-leg final.

The semi-finals will take place on March 21, 2024, while the final matches are scheduled for March 26, 2024.

The Euro 2024 runs June 14 to July 14, 2024.