⚽ UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany ⚽ - Qualifiers➡Group Stage➡1/8➡QF➡HF➡FINAL

[slackovic]

If the quality was so high, then the following outcomes were not possible in Qatar 2022:

1. Australia defeating Danmark (1-0)
2. Japan defeating Germany (2-1)
3. Japan defeating Spain (2-1)
4. Morocco defeating Belgium (2-0)
5. South Korea defeating Portugal (2-1)

On all these instances, European (UEFA) teams were defeated by teams from AFC or CAF. The days of European dominance in football is over. The sooner you realize it, that much better for you. Else you will continue to lose bets on these teams.

I agree that European teams are stagnating while other nations teams are getting better. As an European, I find this good because it will bring us more good games in the World Championships. But if you look at the world champions, other than Brazil and Argentina there is no nation outside Europe that have won the World Cup since Uruguay in 1950. Every nation (including the top European nations) can lose a game or two. But we will see if your words that European dominance is coming to an end will come true.

[SquallLeonhart]

Honestly, the competition at the EURO is probably even greater than at the World Cup because the quality of the participating teams is higher.
At the EURO, there are no weak teams that can be easily beaten by a large margin, as sometimes happens at the World Cup.
That is why my expectations from the Croatian national team and Modrić are that it will be much easier for them to win the title and the gold medal at the final tournament of the League of Nations in June this year than at the EURO. After the final tournament of the League of Nations, Modrić will most likely say goodbye to playing for the Croatian national team.
As for the rest, the age of the player should never matter, but only the quality of the game.

If the quality was so high, then the following outcomes were not possible in Qatar 2022:

1. Australia defeating Danmark (1-0)
2. Japan defeating Germany (2-1)
3. Japan defeating Spain (2-1)
4. Morocco defeating Belgium (2-0)
5. South Korea defeating Portugal (2-1)

On all these instances, European (UEFA) teams were defeated by teams from AFC or CAF. The days of European dominance in football is over. The sooner you realize it, that much better for you. Else you will continue to lose bets on these teams.

There is absolutely zero dominance by European teams anymore, yeah they are still some of the best teams and if you look at the semi finals, it was between teams from Europe mostly over any other continent, so the top is still euro heavy, but when you spread it like how Euro cup does and there are many teams, some of them are not that good anymore.

I think Croatia will be the big surprise in this game but in a bad way, they were finalists in one world cup and semi finalist in the next, but they will probably be bad on this Euro and everyone will be shocked about it. France looks like they are good enough to beat everyone no matter what, I think they can do that.

[macson]

snip

I agree that European teams are stagnating while other nations teams are getting better. As an European, I find this good because it will bring us more good games in the World Championships. But if you look at the world champions, other than Brazil and Argentina there is no nation outside Europe that have won the World Cup since Uruguay in 1950. Every nation (including the top European nations) can lose a game or two. But we will see if your words that European dominance is coming to an end will come true.

Europe will still dominate world football for the next few decades, while other countries, such as Latin America, Asia or Africa, will only be lucky in a few matches against European teams.  Spain, France and Germany are still the countries that dominate world football ^{(although currently their FIFA rankings are down and are below Brazil and Argentina)}.  

after a few days ago, one of the stadiums in northern turkey was officially one of the stadiums used for the 2024 euro qualifying round, until now the condition is still unknown ^{(whether there is damage or not)}.

[1] https://www.faw.cymru/en/news/venue-confirmed-turkey-uefa-euro-2024-qualifier/

[Silberman]

If the quality was so high, then the following outcomes were not possible in Qatar 2022:

1. Australia defeating Danmark (1-0)
2. Japan defeating Germany (2-1)
3. Japan defeating Spain (2-1)
4. Morocco defeating Belgium (2-0)
5. South Korea defeating Portugal (2-1)

On all these instances, European (UEFA) teams were defeated by teams from AFC or CAF. The days of European dominance in football is over. The sooner you realize it, that much better for you. Else you will continue to lose bets on these teams.

I agree that European teams are stagnating while other nations teams are getting better. As an European, I find this good because it will bring us more good games in the World Championships. But if you look at the world champions, other than Brazil and Argentina there is no nation outside Europe that have won the World Cup since Uruguay in 1950. Every nation (including the top European nations) can lose a game or two. But we will see if your words that European dominance is coming to an end will come true.

European soccer has been at the top for a long time as not only there is a very high interest in the game but a lot of money is invested by the owners of the leagues, this may give the impression they are stagnating but when you are at the top there is nowhere to go but down, the rest of the world is catching up as they send their own players to Europe and they play against the very best, but without a strong domestic league it is difficult to see a team other than Argentina or Brazil being able to win a world cup to those European teams.

[Sithara007]

European soccer has been at the top for a long time as not only there is a very high interest in the game but a lot of money is invested by the owners of the leagues, this may give the impression they are stagnating but when you are at the top there is nowhere to go but down, the rest of the world is catching up as they send their own players to Europe and they play against the very best, but without a strong domestic league it is difficult to see a team other than Argentina or Brazil being able to win a world cup to those European teams.

UEFA still has the best football leagues in the world. No other leagues can match competitions such as English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and Eredivisie in terms of quality and popularity. I would say that if you take the list of top-5 football leagues around the world, all of them would be from Europe. And this has helped the European players enormously. They get the experience by playing against the best players in the world. But now, UEFA clubs are increasingly diversifying their squads, by adding players from all around the world, including those from CAF and AFC (in addition to UEFA and CONMEBOL).

[slackovic]

UEFA still has the best football leagues in the world. No other leagues can match competitions such as English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and Eredivisie in terms of quality and popularity. I would say that if you take the list of top-5 football leagues around the world, all of them would be from Europe. And this has helped the European players enormously. They get the experience by playing against the best players in the world. But now, UEFA clubs are increasingly diversifying their squads, by adding players from all around the world, including those from CAF and AFC (in addition to UEFA and CONMEBOL).

That is true but European leagues are not the same thing as European national teams. Clubs in the European leagues have a lot of money and with that money and great infrastructure they attract the best players from all around the world. National teams are different because they can only take players from their nations. There are few exceptions where a player can join another nation's team but those are exceptions. However, like you said, those top European leagues give players the opportunity to constantly play football at the highest level. For example, s good player will improve his performance if he is playing in England. While the same player will probably stagnate if he plays football in some minor league.

[drwoo]

If the quality was so high, then the following outcomes were not possible in Qatar 2022:

1. Australia defeating Danmark (1-0)
2. Japan defeating Germany (2-1)
3. Japan defeating Spain (2-1)
4. Morocco defeating Belgium (2-0)
5. South Korea defeating Portugal (2-1)

On all these instances, European (UEFA) teams were defeated by teams from AFC or CAF. The days of European dominance in football is over. The sooner you realize it, that much better for you. Else you will continue to lose bets on these teams.

I agree that European teams are stagnating while other nations teams are getting better. As an European, I find this good because it will bring us more good games in the World Championships. But if you look at the world champions, other than Brazil and Argentina there is no nation outside Europe that have won the World Cup since Uruguay in 1950. Every nation (including the top European nations) can lose a game or two. But we will see if your words that European dominance is coming to an end will come true.

I think it is because soccer has become more and more of an international sport and players are highly mobile these days. The team of Senegal is a great example of that. They have a relatively high number of superstars playing for European top clubs. Due to that they have the experience on the pitch to play under the highest pressure. The number of South American and African players playing for top European teams has significantly increased over the last decades at least as per my perception. I have no statistics at hand right now, but my guess would be that that is the case.

I think the trend of teams other than the typical favorites competing stronger and stronger will continue in the future. Scouting is so strong and global, when there is an African or American or etc. player, it won't go unnoticed anymore. These players will be supported and promoted very early on and can then give back to their national teams later on. The competition will even out even more in the future.

[Sithara007]

~~~
For example, s good player will improve his performance if he is playing in England. While the same player will probably stagnate if he plays football in some minor league.

From what I can see, the current trend (a very recent one, I'd say) is for European players to get contracts with less known leagues around the world (one example is that of Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Al Nassr), and at the same time players from AFC and CAF participating in the top leagues such as Serie A and the English Premier League. European leagues always had Asian and African players to a certain degree. But this trend has really accelerated during the last few years, which is helping the Asian and African national teams in a big way.

[drwoo]

~~~
For example, s good player will improve his performance if he is playing in England. While the same player will probably stagnate if he plays football in some minor league.

From what I can see, the current trend (a very recent one, I'd say) is for European players to get contracts with less known leagues around the world (one example is that of Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Al Nassr), and at the same time players from AFC and CAF participating in the top leagues such as Serie A and the English Premier League. European leagues always had Asian and African players to a certain degree. But this trend has really accelerated during the last few years, which is helping the Asian and African national teams in a big way.

That is not a new trend. It is very standard for players who are at the end of their career and want to make big money for a last time. Just see how many players went to China or Japan when they didn't have salary caps. Iniesta plays for Vissel Kobe or Hulk played for Shanghai. Xavi played for al-Sadd for even four years. Nothing new about it and not to forget how many stars went to the MLS. Ibrahimovic, Henry etc. It is all about the money.

[slackovic]

That is not a new trend. It is very standard for players who are at the end of their career and want to make big money for a last time. Just see how many players went to China or Japan when they didn't have salary caps. Iniesta plays for Vissel Kobe or Hulk played for Shanghai. Xavi played for al-Sadd for even four years. Nothing new about it and not to forget how many stars went to the MLS. Ibrahimovic, Henry etc. It is all about the money.

Didn't David Beckham also sign for a MLS team? I can't remember which one, but I think it was a team that was playing in the MLS. What I want to say is there is nothing wrong with that. Starts in their "old age" like those you mentioned or Beckham probably won't bring much quality to a club. But they will bring much media attention and money from marketing. Look at Christiano Ronaldo for example. He signed for a club that I never heard of until media started writing about them signing Ronaldo. And they have enough money to pay him much more than he would have earned in Europe.

[LUCKMCFLY]

@babo I’m kinda surprised as to why do people yet feel that Germany is the favourite to win this tournament, because even with the home advantage I’m pretty sure that they’ll be eliminated early because they no longer play the fearless football liked they used to play in the past. Furthermore for me it’s either France or England that’ll be winning this tournament, because both have excellent squad of player’s who can help them win this tournament.

for me i wouldn't say that i'm surprised because i know the majority favor teams who play in their home land all the time, they even thought Qatar could do something in the World cup, but in reality and throughout the last few decades i've seen very few countries manage to win tournaments in their homeland to the point i decided to never favor a team like Germany this time i Euro, and i agree with you that France and England have a way better chance to win it than Germany.

Well, I would take France into account, I would see Portugal as a great opportunity to wage war against this tough competition, even though we are seeing that this is before 2024, that is already upon us, when we see it, this year goes by quickly As for the teams, I would like to see a fairly strong Portugal again, that they give CR7 the opportunity, and this time that they make the most of the way he will arrive, because Saudi Arabian football is bringing joy to him, He is recovering it, despite the fact that he has not yet been able to play, I think that this year and the next will be prosperous for him, also the good news is that the new technical director considers CR7 in the squad.

I think it's the end of the story for Ronaldo to play in the national team. From the manager of Portugal, but also from Ronaldo himself? At the last World Cup it was clear that there was no starting place for Ronaldo anymore. And Ronaldo won't feel like it anymore either. Moreover, he is now also continuing his career in Saudi Arabia, where the level is a lot lower than in the competitions in Europe where he and his current teammates played. And his age is gradually starting to play a role as well. You can't stay on top forever, even if you want to. Germany has a lot to put right after both eliminations and exits from the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in which they were knocked out in the group stages both times. They are playing all games at home, the biggest advantage you can imagine.

I don't deny that you may be absolutely right, however I think that if he intends to be in the national team and has the level to be, I don't think the coach won't put him in, as such, he's a good player and somehow scores goals I know that age is relentless but one of the ways he fights against it is due to his great discipline in his training, and that helps a lot, in part I would like him to be in the Portugal team, because I think He needs to fulfill certain dreams and I think that age should not be an impediment, if he sets his mind to it he can achieve it, the same happens with Messi, I would like to see him in one more World Cup.

I don't deny that CR7 is in a football league that one says is of a lower level, however I think that level is not so low anymore, the surprise came against Argentina in Qatar, and that is something that the whole world saw I believe that soccer has grown in every corner of the world.

[Sithara007]

Didn't David Beckham also sign for a MLS team? I can't remember which one, but I think it was a team that was playing in the MLS. What I want to say is there is nothing wrong with that. Starts in their "old age" like those you mentioned or Beckham probably won't bring much quality to a club. But they will bring much media attention and money from marketing. Look at Christiano Ronaldo for example. He signed for a club that I never heard of until media started writing about them signing Ronaldo. And they have enough money to pay him much more than he would have earned in Europe.

Check this:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2012/11/30/david-beckham-departs-mls-after-earning-255-million/?sh=42dce3794da5

David Beckham got the best possible deal and as per Forbes he earned $255 million while playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy (and that was one decade ago, when the USD had more value). The initial deal was worth $32.5 million in 5 years, but stock option clause made him insanely rich. But the case with Ronaldo is different. He is part of the Saudi bidding team for the 2030 FIFA World Cup and has already taken up residence in Saudi Arabia along with his partner Georgina Rodríguez. And there are rumors that he may go for the Saudi citizenship soon.

[Daniel91]

If the quality was so high, then the following outcomes were not possible in Qatar 2022:

1. Australia defeating Danmark (1-0)
2. Japan defeating Germany (2-1)
3. Japan defeating Spain (2-1)
4. Morocco defeating Belgium (2-0)
5. South Korea defeating Portugal (2-1)

On all these instances, European (UEFA) teams were defeated by teams from AFC or CAF. The days of European dominance in football is over. The sooner you realize it, that much better for you. Else you will continue to lose bets on these teams.

I agree that European teams are stagnating while other nations teams are getting better. As an European, I find this good because it will bring us more good games in the World Championships. But if you look at the world champions, other than Brazil and Argentina there is no nation outside Europe that have won the World Cup since Uruguay in 1950. Every nation (including the top European nations) can lose a game or two. But we will see if your words that European dominance is coming to an end will come true.

I would not say that the quality of football in Europe is falling, but in fact the quality of football is increasing every day on all continents, due to better organizational and financial conditions for football in many nations, and thus the difference in the quality of teams from different continents is decreasing.
However, the best football is still played in Europe, both national team and club football, and Europe still invests the most in football.
Qatar is the first world cup after 2002 in which the European national team did not win, and in club football we continue to see the dominance of European clubs at the world club cup.
I think it is too early to conclude that European football is stagnating or declining.
It's one thing to beat a European team in one game, and quite another to win an entire tournament.

[Juggy777]

If the quality was so high, then the following outcomes were not possible in Qatar 2022:

1. Australia defeating Danmark (1-0)
2. Japan defeating Germany (2-1)
3. Japan defeating Spain (2-1)
4. Morocco defeating Belgium (2-0)
5. South Korea defeating Portugal (2-1)

On all these instances, European (UEFA) teams were defeated by teams from AFC or CAF. The days of European dominance in football is over. The sooner you realize it, that much better for you. Else you will continue to lose bets on these teams.

I agree that European teams are stagnating while other nations teams are getting better. As an European, I find this good because it will bring us more good games in the World Championships. But if you look at the world champions, other than Brazil and Argentina there is no nation outside Europe that have won the World Cup since Uruguay in 1950. Every nation (including the top European nations) can lose a game or two. But we will see if your words that European dominance is coming to an end will come true.

I would not say that the quality of football in Europe is falling, but in fact the quality of football is increasing every day on all continents, due to better organizational and financial conditions for football in many nations, and thus the difference in the quality of teams from different continents is decreasing.
However, the best football is still played in Europe, both national team and club football, and Europe still invests the most in football.
Qatar is the first world cup after 2002 in which the European national team did not win, and in club football we continue to see the dominance of European clubs at the world club cup.
I think it is too early to conclude that European football is stagnating or declining.
It's one thing to beat a European team in one game, and quite another to win an entire tournament.

I don’t believe that the European team’s dominance is over just yet, but I feel that they’ll definitely perform well now knowing that they can be beaten by small teams and they can no longer underestimate them. Furthermore upsets happen in each and every tournament, but if these upsets keep on repeating themselves then I’ll agree with you that European team’s dominance is finally over.

[buwaytress]

However, the best football is still played in Europe, both national team and club football, and Europe still invests the most in football.

I might agree the best football is with club football, but I actually can't say I watch a lot of non-European football these days. But a lot of that is because of non-European players playing in those leagues.

But national teams? Surely the World Cups prove that the home of the best football is arguable. I think I've seen plenty of the past 2 or 3, and even when stretching back my memory to 1998 and 2002, some of the worst football is played by European teams, the very best from South America, while we get exciting moments from Asia and Africa.

Of course, what is "best" is subjective. I personally like physicality and positive play. I watched some of the worst top football in recent memory seeing England, Germany, Belgium, even Spain minus their first game... but I loved how Japan served powerful dogged battles in every game. Hell, even Morocco was adrenaline-inducing most of their games. I believe it's more common than that small sample.

[sana54210]

David Beckham got the best possible deal and as per Forbes he earned $255 million while playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy (and that was one decade ago, when the USD had more value). The initial deal was worth $32.5 million in 5 years, but stock option clause made him insanely rich. But the case with Ronaldo is different. He is part of the Saudi bidding team for the 2030 FIFA World Cup and has already taken up residence in Saudi Arabia along with his partner Georgina Rodríguez. And there are rumors that he may go for the Saudi citizenship soon.

I highly doubt that he would be getting Saudi citizenship, that is basically a rumour to make Saudi Arabia to look better, just the fact that you can't live with your girlfriend there, and he was given a special consideration, when any other person can't, is the proof that he won't be doing it.

In any case, Beckham deal was basically filled with incentives, whereas Ronaldo straight up gets this much money, they are not the same thing at all and it would not be considered the same now. Plus Beckham didn't get it in a year, he got it over course of many years, Ronaldo is getting a ton of money if we are looking at the whole thing and maybe even after that.

[Sithara007]

I highly doubt that he would be getting Saudi citizenship, that is basically a rumour to make Saudi Arabia to look better, just the fact that you can't live with your girlfriend there, and he was given a special consideration, when any other person can't, is the proof that he won't be doing it.

In any case, Beckham deal was basically filled with incentives, whereas Ronaldo straight up gets this much money, they are not the same thing at all and it would not be considered the same now. Plus Beckham didn't get it in a year, he got it over course of many years, Ronaldo is getting a ton of money if we are looking at the whole thing and maybe even after that.

In Ronaldo's case also, he is not getting the entire amount upfront. $250 million will be paid over several installments, during his stay with Al Nassr. And then there is another payment for $250 million (so the total goes to $500 million), which is linked to Ronaldo being a part of the Saudi team, which will bid to host the 2030 World Cup. Usually the bid team includes only citizens of that particular country and that is the reason why there is speculation on Ronaldo accepting citizenship from Saudi Arabia. But we need to remember here that dual citizenship is not recognized in Saudi Arabia and therefore if he gets the Saudi passport, then Ronaldo need to forfeit the Portuguese nationality.

[slackovic]

In Ronaldo's case also, he is not getting the entire amount upfront. $250 million will be paid over several installments, during his stay with Al Nassr. And then there is another payment for $250 million (so the total goes to $500 million), which is linked to Ronaldo being a part of the Saudi team, which will bid to host the 2030 World Cup. Usually the bid team includes only citizens of that particular country and that is the reason why there is speculation on Ronaldo accepting citizenship from Saudi Arabia. But we need to remember here that dual citizenship is not recognized in Saudi Arabia and therefore if he gets the Saudi passport, then Ronaldo need to forfeit the Portuguese nationality.

Even if Ronaldo gets Saudi citizenship, what would that mean for the football? Nothing. Even if he could, he still wouldn't be able to play for the Saudi national team because he played for Portugal. I really don't see the point in him getting their citizenship because as dar as I know, it's not forbidden for a foreigner to be a part of the group that will bid to host the 2030 World Cup.

[bitgolden]

In Ronaldo's case also, he is not getting the entire amount upfront. $250 million will be paid over several installments, during his stay with Al Nassr. And then there is another payment for $250 million (so the total goes to $500 million), which is linked to Ronaldo being a part of the Saudi team, which will bid to host the 2030 World Cup. Usually the bid team includes only citizens of that particular country and that is the reason why there is speculation on Ronaldo accepting citizenship from Saudi Arabia. But we need to remember here that dual citizenship is not recognized in Saudi Arabia and therefore if he gets the Saudi passport, then Ronaldo need to forfeit the Portuguese nationality.

It is not as low as Beckhams neither though, this one is for 75 million a year now matter what, and that is a ton of money, plus the extra that you are talking about. Basically what Beckham had was 30 million or so plus the incentives, and he got the incentives, and in this case we are talking about 75 million plus incentives, so if Ronaldo does get it like Beckham did, it will be 100+ million a year, not similar.

Obviously there are some calculations to be made regarding inflation, and maybe they are quite close to each other but I honestly believe that we are talking about a situation where it is much bigger payment for Ronaldo, doesn't look even similar to me.

[Sithara007]

Even if Ronaldo gets Saudi citizenship, what would that mean for the football? Nothing. Even if he could, he still wouldn't be able to play for the Saudi national team because he played for Portugal. I really don't see the point in him getting their citizenship because as dar as I know, it's not forbidden for a foreigner to be a part of the group that will bid to host the 2030 World Cup.

As I mentioned before, Saudis don't want Ronaldo representing their national team. Their main aim is to host the FIFA World Cup of 2030. And they believe that Ronaldo can help them with this. And now for the question what would that mean for football - it would mean a lot. It is another proof for the rising fortunes of Asian and African teams.

It is not as low as Beckhams neither though, this one is for 75 million a year now matter what, and that is a ton of money, plus the extra that you are talking about. Basically what Beckham had was 30 million or so plus the incentives, and he got the incentives, and in this case we are talking about 75 million plus incentives, so if Ronaldo does get it like Beckham did, it will be 100+ million a year, not similar.

Obviously there are some calculations to be made regarding inflation, and maybe they are quite close to each other but I honestly believe that we are talking about a situation where it is much bigger payment for Ronaldo, doesn't look even similar to me.

Well.. I don't know whether Ronaldo or Beckham got a better package. What I know is that in both cases, the players received much higher salary when compared to their previous salary.