UEFA Euro 2024 Play-Offs: Battle for three more places in Germany

The group stage of the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers is over and the play-offs will be played in March, through which we should get three more participants for the upcoming Euro, which will be held in Germany next summer. The draw has been made and all pairings in all three UEFA Nations Leagues have been announced. Once again, it was shown how important it is to be good in this competition and to get a second chance to go to the Euros through the play-offs.

UEFA Euro 2024 Play-Offs: Poland got a second chance

Poland played the qualifiers in an extremely disappointing way, but they will still have a chance to qualify for the Euros through the play-offs. At first glance, this national team had a very easy group, but how bad the Poles were in these qualifications is enough to say that in both matches they failed to beat Moldova, one of the weakest national teams in the previous qualifications.

Poland can thank UEFA for creating the UEFA Nations League, so we will see the Poles in the playoffs in March. From the group in which Poland played, Albania and the Czech Republic have already qualified for the Euros. Poland didn’t even deserve to qualify for the Euro because in four matches with the mentioned national teams, they won only one.

This national team should not have major problems in the semifinals of the play-offs in the A League because they are meeting with Estonia. It is clear that Estonia does not belong to this league, but due to a combination of circumstances, as the winner of the D League, it reached the playoffs because most of the national teams from the A League have qualified for the Euro.

In addition to Poland, even Wales, who blew everything in the last two rounds, failed to do so through the qualifications, so this national team will seek placement at the Euros through the playoffs. Two rounds before the end, Wales completely depended on themselves and with two victories they would have sent Croatia to the play-offs, but Wales ruined the chance for a direct exit with a draw against Armenia.

Wales will play Finland in the second semi-final of the play-offs. Both national teams participated in the previous championship, which means that one national team will certainly not perform in Germany this time. Finland, like Wales, finished the qualification in third place, but they will play in the play-offs since they finished second in the League of Nations competition in the B League, but Bosnia and Herzegovina will play from that group in that league.

Ukraine as the first favorite in the B League

Bosnia and Herzegovina is another national team that should be grateful to UEFA for introducing another competition because they disappointed their fans in the qualifiers. This national team achieved only three victories, two of which were achieved against weak Liechtenstein. The participant of the 2014 World Cup played much better games in the UEFA Nations League, so we will see him in the playoffs.

Bosnia and Herzegovina was not very lucky in the draw, because in the semi-finals of the play-offs they will compete against Ukraine. In the last round, Ukraine had a chance to qualify for the Euros, but it only achieved a draw against Italy, so it will have a second chance through the playoffs.

Ukraine is the favorite against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is playing really badly and has changed two coaches. The winner of that match will play the winner of the Israel-Iceland match in the play-offs final. Israel had a very good position before the end of the qualification, but due to the war situation in that country, they had to play as many as four games in a very short period of time. Israel was not ready to respond in the right way to that challenge, but they will have a second chance to go to the Euros, but first they will have to overcome Iceland.

In the qualifiers, Iceland played in the same group as Bosnia and Herzegovina and played somewhat better than that national team. As for Israel, it would be great if the war situation calmed down so that this national team would meet Iceland on its own ground and not on some neutral ground. Who knows how the qualifiers would have ended if Israel had played certain matches at home. Israel is the only one of the eight mentioned national teams that never had the opportunity to participate in the Euro, and we will see if the moment has come to end that curse.

Greece with the best chances in the C league

The last participant at UEFA Euro 2024 will be from the C League. Georgia did not make a name for itself in the qualifiers, but like three years ago, they will have the opportunity to qualify for the Euros through the play-offs. Then it was defeated in the final by North Macedonia, and this time it will play first against Luxembourg in the semi-final.

Luxembourg has been on the rise in recent years and has long since escaped from the society of weak national teams. Georgia can be given a slight advantage, but Luxembourg is far from without a chance to reach the final. The winner of that match in the final will compete against the better team from the Greece-Kazakhstan duel.

Greece had a solid performance in the qualifiers, but France and the Netherlands were still too strong for this national team. Kazakhstan was great and won as many as 18 points in the qualifiers, but it was only enough for fourth place in a very uncertain group with Denmark, Slovenia and Finland. Greece is far from the level it was at in 2004, when it sensationally won the title of European champion, but it is still the favorite in that match.