A contemporary masterpiece of architecture located on the river Elba (better known in our country as Elba), the Hamburg Philharmonic, will be the place where the balls will determine the fate of the participants of the next European Football Championship on December 2nd.
The draw in the north of Germany will include 21 national teams that qualified for Euro 2024, while three places will be vacant and will be known only after the March play-off matches.
In any case, apart from host Germany, preparations for the biggest continental show can already begin in Portugal, France, Spain, Belgium, England, Hungary, Denmark, Albania, Austria, Turkey, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Holland, Croatia, Serbia, Italy and Switzerland.
The remaining three cards will be "grabbed" by the selections that fought for the barrage through the last edition of the League of Nations - Montenegro is not among them, and that is something that will probably be complained about in our country for a long time.
After all, it is enough to say that two national teams from the League of Nations group in which the "falcons" were - Bosnia and Herzegovina and Finland - will fight through the playoffs for placement at Euro 2024. The fact that Miodrag Radulović's men had two match points against these rivals in the last two rounds, but did not use them, is particularly painful.
First, they were defeated by BiH (1:0) in Zenica, and three days later by Finland in a downpour near Gorica, when a draw was enough for our national team to finish ahead of the Scandinavians, but Žarko Tomašević's red card determined the course of that match (2: 0).
In a way, such an outcome remains a lesson for Montenegro as to how seriously the League of Nations must be taken, while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Finland will wait for a special draw before the draw in Hamburg - on November 23, when all playoff pairs will finally be known.
At the moment, the situation is clear only in "Track C", where Georgia - Luxembourg and Greece - Kazakhstan meet in the semi-finals - the winners go to the final, and whoever triumphs in the final goes to the European Championship. Play-off matches are played for one match.
At the aforementioned draw, it will be decided which national team from Finland, Ukraine and Iceland will play in "Trail A" against Wales, and which two will play in "Trail B" against Israel and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In "Track A", one pair is known (Poland - Estonia), while Wales awaits Finland, Ukraine or Iceland.
When it comes to "Track B", the potential rivals of Bosnia and Herzegovina are Finland and Ukraine, and for Israel, the selections of Ukraine or Iceland.
BARRAGE FOR THE EURO
Track A
- Poland - Estonia
- Wales - Finland/Ukraine/Iceland
Track B
- Israel - Ukraine/Iceland
- BiH - Finland/Ukraine
Track C
- Georgia - Luxembourg
- Greece - Kazakhstan
When it comes to the draw for the Euro on December 2, the teams of the hat are already known, so it is clear that the winners of the play-off will find themselves in the weakest fourth, where Italy, Serbia and Switzerland await them.
Germany in group A, will play in Munich, Stuttgart and Frankfurt
Holders in Hamburg will host Germany, Portugal, France, Spain, Belgium and England.
When it comes to the host, it is already known that they will be in group A, as well as in which cities they will play the group stage.
The Germans thus decided to entrust the opening of the European Championship and the first match of the tournament to "Allianz Arena" and Munich (as in 2006 at the World Cup), the match of the second round will be played in Stuttgart, while they will close the group with a clash in Frankfurt.
Apart from the mentioned three cities, the Euro will also be played in Berlin (host of the grand final), Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Cologne and Leipzig.
ASSEMBLE THE HAT FOR THE DRAW
- FIRST: Germany, Portugal, France, Spain, Belgium, England.
- THE SECOND: Hungary, Denmark, Albania, Austria, Turkey, Romania.
- THIRD: Scotland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Croatia.
- FOURTH: Italy, Serbia, Switzerland, the three winners of the League of Nations play-off
Bonus video:
