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

[KTChampions]

Netherlands have been a surprising team so far I assume. I mean maybe many of us waited for them to have serious difficulties against France in that match. But that huge loss by 4-0 was a little unexpected to be honest.    Netherlands weren't a team like this in the latest World Cup. They fought really well but I saw them quite weak against France in this match.

They dominated the match against Gibraltar completely as well but they scored only three goals. That was a nice chance to score many more goals to improve their morale at a high level. But let's see what they will do against France in the rematch later on. Until then they can make a big progress maybe.

But after all, the result of the game with France seems to have been explained by the poisoning of the players about which information appeared even before the game? I did not read the continuation of this story, but the result itself looked quite logical to me against the background of that information.
And if you look objectively, France is the main favorite of the tournament + the game at home. The Netherlands had little chance even if they were completely healthy.

[BIT-BENDER]

France are always complaining about poisoning of their players, this same scenario was witnessed in last years World Cup when some of their players complained of illness gotten from their stay in during the World Cup.

It would be wise if the France football association can do a comprehensive health check on their players to determine the causes of this constant complains.

[Daniel91]

I was actually surprised because it turned out that many people doubted Croatia. maybe because they got off to a bad start to their first game against Wales. Croatia was held to a 1-1 draw. but even so, Croatia was actually playing quite well at that time. they dominated and created a lot of chances but the Wales defense didn't falter. they defend pretty well and tightly.

Very few doubt Croatia's performance, if football fans saw them at the Qatar World Cup, Croatia even managed to finish third at that time, Croatia's draw against Wales is not a reference, because in fact they played very well and dominated the game. But like you said, Wales had a pretty solid defense and luck came to Wales in the 93rd minute and equalised.

Croatia's win over Turkiye took them to second place in Group D and we will also have to wait for June for the next match as there will be a long break. Several surprises occurred in the qualifying round this time, where Spain and the Netherlands got unsatisfactory results.

I have to correct you a bit, Croatia is in first place in the group because it has 1 goal better goal difference than Wales 
In fact, it is not unexpected that Croatia always has problems in qualifying for major competitions, but they always safely and without problems qualify for every major football competition.
I actually think Croatia played better against Wales, in a game they didn't win, than against Turkey, when the goalkeeper saved them in the first 15 minutes of the game.
However, these are the characteristics of great teams, which win even when they are not playing at the highest level. 

[SquallLeonhart]

Very few doubt Croatia's performance, if football fans saw them at the Qatar World Cup, Croatia even managed to finish third at that time, Croatia's draw against Wales is not a reference, because in fact they played very well and dominated the game. But like you said, Wales had a pretty solid defense and luck came to Wales in the 93rd minute and equalised.

Croatia's win over Turkiye took them to second place in Group D and we will also have to wait for June for the next match as there will be a long break. Several surprises occurred in the qualifying round this time, where Spain and the Netherlands got unsatisfactory results.

I have to correct you a bit, Croatia is in first place in the group because it has 1 goal better goal difference than Wales 
In fact, it is not unexpected that Croatia always has problems in qualifying for major competitions, but they always safely and without problems qualify for every major football competition.
I actually think Croatia played better against Wales, in a game they didn't win, than against Turkey, when the goalkeeper saved them in the first 15 minutes of the game.
However, these are the characteristics of great teams, which win even when they are not playing at the highest level. 

When you have a goalkeeper that good, that's basically becomes part of your teams plan as well, they have a great keeper that helped them a ton during world cup as well, if not for Martinez and the final game, I would have said Livakovic was the best goalkeeper of the whole tournament, so him saving shots on early game wasn't really that bad of a deal.

On the other hand, I would have to say that there is a good case to be made about Turkey being a better team than Wales as well, and yet Wales and Turkey games looked different, sometimes football doesn't really care about which team ranks where and looks how much better and all that, it's just wildly different when everyone is on the field.

[harapan]

Scotland fully deserved the win.Luis Enrique experiment needs time to bring to life a super Spain as he is betting on the really young players and they need time until they harmonize together,I think he has the blessing of Spain as he is going to be considered a new hero as I am pretty confident in the next World Cup we will see a super Spain.I don't believe we will see a really dangerous Spain in this Euro although I think they will have not the slightest problem in qualifying for the Euro,who knows maybe the experiment of Enrique come earlier than predicted and Spain maybe wins this Euro cup but against a super performing France I doubt anyone has better chances than France to win this upcoming Euro 2024.

The problem with Spain have always been their attack. Even the super Spain of 2008-2012 didn't have much attackers. They always play a midfield football. The difference between those two teams is that they had so many good midfielders back then that could dictate the game and also create dozens of chances for their teammates to score and they also do score. People only talk about Xavi, Iniesta, Busquet, we know these guys were phenonium but they also had Fabregas, David Silva, Alonso. There attack was just Pedro, Villa and Torres.

This present Spanish team don't lack the midfielders but they don't have that level of experience and not many good midfielders are they did back them. So now they actually need an attack that can compliment the midfield they have. An attack that can score goals. They also need to learn how to be more direct.

[Daniel91]

Very few doubt Croatia's performance, if football fans saw them at the Qatar World Cup, Croatia even managed to finish third at that time, Croatia's draw against Wales is not a reference, because in fact they played very well and dominated the game. But like you said, Wales had a pretty solid defense and luck came to Wales in the 93rd minute and equalised.

Croatia's win over Turkiye took them to second place in Group D and we will also have to wait for June for the next match as there will be a long break. Several surprises occurred in the qualifying round this time, where Spain and the Netherlands got unsatisfactory results.

I have to correct you a bit, Croatia is in first place in the group because it has 1 goal better goal difference than Wales 
In fact, it is not unexpected that Croatia always has problems in qualifying for major competitions, but they always safely and without problems qualify for every major football competition.
I actually think Croatia played better against Wales, in a game they didn't win, than against Turkey, when the goalkeeper saved them in the first 15 minutes of the game.
However, these are the characteristics of great teams, which win even when they are not playing at the highest level. 

When you have a goalkeeper that good, that's basically becomes part of your teams plan as well, they have a great keeper that helped them a ton during world cup as well, if not for Martinez and the final game, I would have said Livakovic was the best goalkeeper of the whole tournament, so him saving shots on early game wasn't really that bad of a deal.

On the other hand, I would have to say that there is a good case to be made about Turkey being a better team than Wales as well, and yet Wales and Turkey games looked different, sometimes football doesn't really care about which team ranks where and looks how much better and all that, it's just wildly different when everyone is on the field.

Croatia has so many extraordinary players in the team that they win even if not all players play well, but only a few, like in the game against Turkey. In that match, Croatia won on the basis of the greater individual quality of its players and not on the basis of a much better game, and that is the characteristic of great national teams, that they win even when they do not play well.
Croatia has the necessary quality to be the first in the group without major problems, and I think that the Turkish team is still better than Wales and that in the end they will be second and qualify for the EURO.

[Tumanggor]

France are always complaining about poisoning of their players, this same scenario was witnessed in last years World Cup when some of their players complained of illness gotten from their stay in during the World Cup.

It would be wise if the France football association can do a comprehensive health check on their players to determine the causes of this constant complains.

even though usually every food that is served during big events is only served by their respective countries and the quality of the food is guaranteed to be safe, I do not speculate whether it is sabotage but France is the strongest team in Europe, of course, they have many enemies

after Mbappe was officially elected as captain of France, I saw that he was still unable to adjust, the proof was against Ireland, they could only score 1 goal, it seems he should have more time leading the France squad

[Cryptmuster]

This present Spanish team don't lack the midfielders but they don't have that level of experience and not many good midfielders are they did back them. So now they actually need an attack that can compliment the midfield they have. An attack that can score goals. They also need to learn how to be more direct.

Spain is a great team, it just wasn't their day, they had twice the possession of the ball than Scotland, which indicates a strong midline, in addition, the teams made the same number - three shots on target every team, and shots on goal were also almost equal, 9 - Scotland and 8 - Spain. You'll see Spain come out in the playoffs from the first place.

[Sithara007]

Spain is a great team, it just wasn't their day, they had twice the possession of the ball than Scotland, which indicates a strong midline, in addition, the teams made the same number - three shots on target every team, and shots on goal were also almost equal, 9 - Scotland and 8 - Spain. You'll see Spain come out in the playoffs from the first place.

Spain is still in rebuilding phase after the retirement of their star players. During the match against Scotland, their attack was led by players such as Joselu, Dani Ceballos, Yeremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal. None of these players have experience of more than 25 international matches. Even Iago Aspas (who is 35 years old) has played just 20 matches for Spain. Also you need to remember that their most experienced payer (Álvaro Morata) didn't took part in this match, and they were led by the 26-year old Rodri. Given all this, I won't be too harsh on Spain for their performance against Scotland. It was simply Scotland's day, and they had the home advantage as well.

[jaberwock]

Spain is a great team, it just wasn't their day, they had twice the possession of the ball than Scotland, which indicates a strong midline, in addition, the teams made the same number - three shots on target every team, and shots on goal were also almost equal, 9 - Scotland and 8 - Spain. You'll see Spain come out in the playoffs from the first place.

Spain is still in rebuilding phase after the retirement of their star players. During the match against Scotland, their attack was led by players such as Joselu, Dani Ceballos, Yeremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal. None of these players have experience of more than 25 international matches. Even Iago Aspas (who is 35 years old) has played just 20 matches for Spain. Also you need to remember that their most experienced payer (Álvaro Morata) didn't took part in this match, and they were led by the 26-year old Rodri. Given all this, I won't be too harsh on Spain for their performance against Scotland. It was simply Scotland's day, and they had the home advantage as well.

Rebuilding has taken a while though, most teams do have rebuilds, look at Germany and Italy and how they are doing terrible lately. They won so much, and then suddenly when those people who won ended up retiring, they became so bad. However, Spain last won when? It has been a while right? Which means that they need to build a team, and build it quickly, that could win something because they haven't won anything in a very long time as well.

Last time they won the world cup was 2010, not bad but been 13 years and never been even close to that again, so they need to figure out a way to get better and build a better team very quickly, not like in a few years, but right now.

[Sithara007]

Rebuilding has taken a while though, most teams do have rebuilds, look at Germany and Italy and how they are doing terrible lately. They won so much, and then suddenly when those people who won ended up retiring, they became so bad. However, Spain last won when? It has been a while right? Which means that they need to build a team, and build it quickly, that could win something because they haven't won anything in a very long time as well.

Last time they won the world cup was 2010, not bad but been 13 years and never been even close to that again, so they need to figure out a way to get better and build a better team very quickly, not like in a few years, but right now.

Agreed. A few years back, Spain was one of the top-5 teams. They had exceptional players such as Gerard Piqué, Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Ramos and David Silva. But the problem is that all these players retired in quick succession, before the team management could arrange the younger players to replace them. And it is not just Spain. Italy went through the same phase a few years ago, and they are still struggling at international level. And Germany has simply ran out of younger players to replace the retiring senior ones. New talent is simply not coming through.

[Pierre 2]

There will be competition between Croatia, Türkiye and Wales in Group D for sure. On paper, squad qualities are like Croatia > Türkiye > Wales. But when one of them is on form, its not very hard to beat each other. Türkiye lost to Croatia at home for example but Croatia couldn't be able to beat Wales at home. Now its time for Türkiye-Wales match. I think Türkiye should be able to beat Wales but Wales can be very motivated as they beat Latvia and staying at higher rank than Türkiye. Obviously I am not talking about next matches but I think both Armenia and Latvia are too weak so both of them will lose.

[Daniel91]

There will be competition between Croatia, Türkiye and Wales in Group D for sure. On paper, squad qualities are like Croatia > Türkiye > Wales. But when one of them is on form, its not very hard to beat each other. Türkiye lost to Croatia at home for example but Croatia couldn't be able to beat Wales at home. Now its time for Türkiye-Wales match. I think Türkiye should be able to beat Wales but Wales can be very motivated as they beat Latvia and staying at higher rank than Türkiye. Obviously I am not talking about next matches but I think both Armenia and Latvia are too weak so both of them will lose.

I think that's a bit of a simplistic view of the quality of the teams in this group.
Croatia actually played a very good game against Wales and they didn't win even though they were a much better team.
On the other hand, Croatia won in Turkey somewhat fortunately, because, especially in the beginning, they were not a better team than Turkey.
However, these are the characteristics of top teams like Croatia, that they win even when they don't play well.
Croatia will win first place in the group without any major problems because they have a much higher individual quality than Turkey and Wales, and it seems to me that Turkey is a better team than Wales.

[SquallLeonhart]

There will be competition between Croatia, Türkiye and Wales in Group D for sure. On paper, squad qualities are like Croatia > Türkiye > Wales. But when one of them is on form, its not very hard to beat each other. Türkiye lost to Croatia at home for example but Croatia couldn't be able to beat Wales at home. Now its time for Türkiye-Wales match. I think Türkiye should be able to beat Wales but Wales can be very motivated as they beat Latvia and staying at higher rank than Türkiye. Obviously I am not talking about next matches but I think both Armenia and Latvia are too weak so both of them will lose.

The squad quality is definitely like that, but the difference is not big in squad quality neither, that is why they can beat each other. All three teams are very very close to each other in quality, and even though Croatia was much better in the world cup, whereas Turkey wasn't even in it, it's obvious that there is a similarity in play style that makes it harder and unorthodox for each other to play.

I believe that Croatia will be the first, and Wales will be second and Turkey will be the third, but we still don't know how it will be for sure. We need at least a few more games to see how the teams will play, before we can judge them about the end result.

[Lucius]

~snip~
I believe that Croatia will be the first, and Wales will be second and Turkey will be the third, but we still don't know how it will be for sure. We need at least a few more games to see how the teams will play, before we can judge them about the end result.

Even if Croatia is not first or second in the group, it has a chance for additional qualifications in March 2024, given that it won first place in its League of Nations group. I wrote earlier that there is even a chance that Croatia will go directly to Euro 2024 if it wins the Nations League, but I think that may not be true (I can't find such information).

Teams have been placed into ten groups of five (including those containing the four UEFA Nations League Finals participants) or six. Sides play home and away in a round-robin format, with the group winners and runners-up advancing directly to the final tournament. The remaining three teams will be decided through the play-offs, featuring 12 teams selected based on their performance in the 2022/23 Nations League.

[slackovic]

Even if Croatia is not first or second in the group, it has a chance for additional qualifications in March 2024, given that it won first place in its League of Nations group. I wrote earlier that there is even a chance that Croatia will go directly to Euro 2024 if it wins the Nations League, but I think that may not be true (I can't find such information).

Teams have been placed into ten groups of five (including those containing the four UEFA Nations League Finals participants) or six. Sides play home and away in a round-robin format, with the group winners and runners-up advancing directly to the final tournament. The remaining three teams will be decided through the play-offs, featuring 12 teams selected based on their performance in the 2022/23 Nations League.

I think that Croatia must focus on the qualifications games and forget about the possibility of additional qualifications due to finish up first in the Nations league group phase. Croatia is winning even when most of their players are not at their highest performance. The game against Turkey is an example of this. We have a great goalkeeper and someone from the team always stands out. I'm just worried about games against weaker opponents like Armenia or Latvia. Croatia likes to lose points in those games.

[Sithara007]

There will be competition between Croatia, Türkiye and Wales in Group D for sure. On paper, squad qualities are like Croatia > Türkiye > Wales. But when one of them is on form, its not very hard to beat each other. Türkiye lost to Croatia at home for example but Croatia couldn't be able to beat Wales at home. Now its time for Türkiye-Wales match. I think Türkiye should be able to beat Wales but Wales can be very motivated as they beat Latvia and staying at higher rank than Türkiye. Obviously I am not talking about next matches but I think both Armenia and Latvia are too weak so both of them will lose.

It's strange, isn't it? I thought that Wales will become irrelevant after the retirement of their legendary player Gareth Bale. But then they surprised everyone with very strong performances so far. On the other hand, in the recent times Türkiye has performed well below expectations. Prevously I was thinking that it would be easy for Croatia and Türkiye to progress to the next stage. But now I believe that Wales may be having a higher chance of qualification, when compared to Türkiye.

[Lucius]

I think that Croatia must focus on the qualifications games and forget about the possibility of additional qualifications due to finish up first in the Nations league group phase. Croatia is winning even when most of their players are not at their highest performance. The game against Turkey is an example of this. We have a great goalkeeper and someone from the team always stands out. I'm just worried about games against weaker opponents like Armenia or Latvia. Croatia likes to lose points in those games.

I agree, but our mentality is such that we always complicate things for ourselves, and you only have to remember the qualifications for the 2018 and 2022 world championships, where we had big problems both times, and then won medals twice in a row. However, we rely a lot on individual quality, primarily the ever-present Modric, who is the brain of the whole team, and the great goalkeeper Livakovic, without whom we would not have beaten Turkey.

When Modric retires from the national team, there will be a big void in the middle of the field, and given that he is a bit of a miracle, it is unlikely that anyone from the existing team will be able to replace him. Let's hope that Modric plans to stay for Euro 2024 as well, and somehow it seems to me that he wants that because it will be a special European championship considering that our fans will come to the matches in large numbers.

[slackovic]

I agree, but our mentality is such that we always complicate things for ourselves, and you only have to remember the qualifications for the 2018 and 2022 world championships, where we had big problems both times, and then won medals twice in a row. However, we rely a lot on individual quality, primarily the ever-present Modric, who is the brain of the whole team, and the great goalkeeper Livakovic, without whom we would not have beaten Turkey.

When Modric retires from the national team, there will be a big void in the middle of the field, and given that he is a bit of a miracle, it is unlikely that anyone from the existing team will be able to replace him. Let's hope that Modric plans to stay for Euro 2024 as well, and somehow it seems to me that he wants that because it will be a special European championship considering that our fans will come to the matches in large numbers.

I don't think that Modric will stay in the national team for the whole Euro 2024 qualifications. I think that he will say goodbye after the Nations league final four in June this year. But the game against Turkey really showed that when he is not at his best, the rest of the team doesn't play that good. I hope that Dalic has some kind of a solution because otherwise we (as a country that was third in the last World Cup) could really get embarrassed in the Euro 2024.

[Lucius]

@slackovic, I think that he will still remain in the national team and play in Euro 2024, because that competition would be perfect to say goodbye to the national team, especially if we manage to get a good result. Today the news appeared that Modric signed a new contract with Real Madrid, and he is one of those who publicly said that the club never prevented him from playing for the national team, and I don't think such a request will even happen.

It is true that Modric is the brain of the team, but it is also true that sooner or later someone else will have to take responsibility and become the leader. It will surely be an opportunity for Kovacic to show if he can play the main role in the middle of the field, but also for some other players who compete for those positions (Majer, Pasalic, Vlasic, Ivanusec).