Euro 2024 Best 3rd-Placed Team Tracker

The format of Euro 2024 bears little resemblance to the early years of the European Championships. Only four nations competed in the first five iterations of the continental competition, while the current 24-team setup wasn’t reluctantly agreed upon until 2016.

Gone are the days of two matches to win the tournament and the use of a coin toss to decide the victor of a drawn contest. This inclusive competition only eliminates eight teams from the group stage. Alongside the winners and runners-up from each of the six groups, four teams that finish third in the first phase can still find a way into the round of 16. Portugal infamously used this back door at Euro 2016 before winning the entire tournament.

As this is a competition organised by UEFA, nothing is entirely straightforward. Here’s everything you need to know about the circuitous route some sides can take to sneak into the knockout stage this summer.

How Third-Placed Teams Qualify for the Round of 16

Disciplinary record could be used as a tiebreaker

Euro 2024 begins with six sets of four teams split evenly between Groups A, B, C, D, E and F. After a traditional round-robin opening which sees each nation play the other three countries in their group once, earning three points for a win, one for a draw and none in the result of a defeat, the two highest-ranked sides from each group automatically qualify for the knockout stages.

That still leaves four open slots in the round of 16. These will be filled by the sides that accrued the most points while finishing third in their group. Just as in the group stage, there are tiebreakers for third-placed teams that finish on the same points. After considering goal difference (goals scored minus those conceded), goals scored and wins, each nation’s disciplinary record could come under the microscope.

The Euros have not been forced to use this drastic measure before, but it has happened at the World Cup. Japan infamously qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament in 2018 by collecting fewer yellow cards than Senegal. In the unlikely event that two sides still can’t be separated after an inspection of bookings, the team with the superior qualification record progresses.

The legendary Franz Beckenbauer, one of the greatest defenders of all time who won Euro 1972 with West Germany, announced that the competition would be expanded to 24 teams in September 2008. “There are several reasons why this should happen,” the iconic figure cryptically declared. “And the competition will not lose quality as a result.”

Euro 2012 was the last edition of the finals to retain a streamlined 16-team format – where the knockout stage began with a set of quarter-finals exclusively made up of the group winners and runners-up. Shortly before the format change, former UEFA president Gianni Infantino – the figure now in charge of world football’s governing body – expressed concerns that the new system may be “boring”.

Infantino’s fears were not carried over by his successor, Aleksander Ceferin. The Slovenian lawyer took over from the current FIFA president after Euro 2016, which Portugal won despite finishing behind Hungary and Iceland in their group. The system remained in place at Euro 2020 and is expected to be retained for the continental competitions in 2028 and 2032.

Ranking of Third-Placed Teams at Euro 2024

Four of six teams go through to the knockout stages

One win has proven to be enough to qualify for the knockout stages at Euro 2024 – and even victory isn’t mandatory. Slovenia managed to progress beyond the group stage of a major tournament for the first time in their history without winning a single match, collecting three draws and points against Denmark, Serbia and England in Group C.

After losing their opening two games to Switzerland and Germany, Hungary salvaged third place in Group A with a victory over Scotland secured via a 100th-minute winner. Marco Rossi’s side are not guaranteed qualification just yet, but Croatia’s fate has been confirmed. Italy’s Mattia Zaccagni curled a sumptuous 98th-minute equaliser into the top corner in Croatia’s final group game to consign the Balkan nation to just two points.

Teams in Groups E and F have an advantage over their counterparts that were drawn earlier in the tournament. These sides that have their last matches scheduled towards the backend of the group stage will know what results are necessary to climb the third-place table during the final round of group games. Slovakia, for instance, know that a draw will guarantee third place in Group E with a total of four points, which will be enough to advance via this back-door route.

Round of 16 Ties for Third-Placed Teams

England will face a third-placed team

As punishment for only squeezing into the knockout stages, every third-placed team will be drawn against a group winner in the round of 16. These specific pairings depend on the identities of each third-place qualifier, which can only be revealed when the group stage concludes on 26th June with the final Group F games between Georgia and Portugal as well as the Czech Republic and Turkey.

One of the numerous complaints made about this format is that only four of the six group winners are pitted against a nation that finished third. While the best teams in Groups B, C, E and F have the good fortune of drawing a side that only narrowly qualified for the knockout rounds, Germany, as winners of Group A, are pitted against the runners-up from Group C, Denmark.

The group winners lucky enough to draw a third-placed team have the venue for their first knockout tie confirmed upon qualification. Their opponents – and, crucially, the travelling fans of that nation – only discover the key details once the entire first round is concluded.

This puts added pressure on the logistical demands of teams and supporters at a tournament that has inspired widespread criticism for organisational inadequacies. England fans and UEFA had seven months to prepare for their opening group game against Serbia, yet numerous supporters were still forced to walk four miles to the stadium in Gelsenkirchen during a downpour after the local transport infrastructure crumbled under the weight of demand.

As Group C winners (somehow) England will play the nation that finished third in Group D or E. After losing a helter-skelter contest to Austria, the Netherlands were bumped into the bronze medal position of Group D and are England’s likeliest opponents in the round of 16. If the Czech Republic or Georgia can finish Group F with a victory – thereby leapfrogging Group A’s Hungary in the table of third-placed teams – England will face a member of Group E. Heading into the final round of matches, all four of Romania, Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine are possible opponents for the Three Lions.

Data via UEFA. Correct as of 26th June 2024.