By the end of November, people from 21 different countries will be able to book their trips to Germany. The UEFA, which is in charge of football in Europe, thinks it is smart enough to wait to choose the final three teams until the end of the UEFA Nations League playoffs in March. This is a full year after the qualification process began.
Here’s what could happen in the next-to-last round of playoff games.
Matchday 9 forecasts for Euro 2024 qualifying
Spain and Scotland will both be at Euro 2024. The top two teams in Group A have the same number of points and have never lost to each other. If both teams win their remaining games, the race for first place and a better seed in next summer’s playoffs will come down to goal difference.
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Spain’s matchup against Cyprus is much easier because they have never lost there, while Scotland’s matchup against Georgia is against a country that has only lost one home game in the last two years.
Sweden is already out of the tournament, so their only goal when they make the long trip to Baku on Thursday is to defend their honor. Their hosts, Azerbaijan, still has a chance to get into the playoffs by a back way. So does Estonia. Austria, led by Ralf Rangnick, will finish their campaign in Tallinn. Next summer, they will cross the border into Germany and could still beat Belgium to win Group F.
Group G is a lot more open. All three of Hungary, Serbia, and Montenegro have the chance to make it to the upcoming finals or not. Hungary was a surprise at the last Euros, and all they need is a tie at home against Bulgaria on Thursday to secure their spot. Not only do Montenegro need to beat Lithuania, they also need Bulgaria to help them out when they play Serbia in the next round of games.
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Portugal is already in first place with a perfect record, so their trip to Liechtenstein may not mean much, but Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t one to use the phrase “dead rubber.” A rising Luxembourg team still wants to join Portugal in the top two, but they would have to beat Bosnia and Herzegovina and hope that Iceland beats Slovakia, which is currently in second place in Group J.
England made it to their fourth straight major event with two games to spare, thanks to Gareth Southgate. The Three Lions play Malta at home on Friday, and one of the few things that could go wrong is their perfect qualification record under Southgate.
