The Euro 2024 knockout round bracket is nearly finalized, with five of the six groups complete.
Wednesday’s Group E play featured two draws, 1-1 between Romania and Slovakia and 0-0 between Belgium and Ukraine. That left all four teams with four points. Romania finished finished atop the group because it won the goals-scored tiebreaker, with four over its three games, while Belgium was second because it had a better goal differential than the remaining two teams. Slovakia will advance as one of the top four third-place finishers because it had a better goal differential than Ukraine, which unfortunately is heading home despite reaching four points, which usually is enough to secure a spot in the knockout round.
Romania will face a third-place team, either Slovenia or the Netherlands, on Tuesday in Munich. Belgium will face France on Monday in Düsseldorf. Slovakia will play either Spain or England on Sunday.
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The top two teams in each group, along with the top four third-place finishers, advance to the 16-team knockout round, meaning Hungary (third place in Group A) will have to wait to see if its three points are enough. (Croatia, third place in Group A, has been eliminated.)
Ties are broken first by head-to-head results — or results against all the level teams, in case of a multi-team tie — followed by goal differential and goals scored. Beyond that, the calculations get more complicated.
Group F will close the group stage Wednesday. The knockout stage commences with round-of-16 games beginning Saturday.
In addition to the Group A, B, C, D and E teams, Portugal (the winner of Group F) already has clinched a spot in the knockout round.
All times Eastern.
Wednesday’s Euro 2024 games
- Georgia vs. Portugal, 3 p.m.
- Czech Republic vs. Turkey, 3 p.m.
Portugal has clinched first place in Group F and will face a third-place team in the round of 16. But first comes a meeting Wednesday against Georgia, while the Czech Republic meets Turkey. Turkey will finish second in the group with a win or draw against the Czechs, who would be eliminated with a loss. Georgia also would be eliminated with a loss, or with a draw if the Czechs win or draw.
Up next …
The tournament takes a break Thursday and Friday before the knockout round begins Saturday.
Looking ahead at the rest of Euro 2024
Here’s a look at the rest of the tournament schedule. All dates and times Eastern.
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Group stage results
Group A: Host Germany got a stoppage-time goal from substitute Niclas Füllkrug to earn a 1-1 draw with Switzerland in its finale, clinching first place in the group. (Germany won its first two games.) Switzerland, with a win and two draws, finished second and also advanced. Hungary also got a late goal in its finale — in the 10th minute of stoppage time — to earn a 1-0 win over Scotland and a third-place finish in the group. Scotland finished last in the group and still has never gotten past the group stage of a major tournament.
Group B: Italy got a goal from Mattia Zaccagni late in stoppage time to earn a 1-1 draw with Croatia and second place in the group. Italy, the reigning Euro champion, will meet Switzerland in the round of 16, while Croatia was nearly eliminated. Spain — which beat Albania, 1-0 — had already clinched the top spot in the group and will meet a third-place finisher in the round of 16; a potential meeting with host Germany looms in the quarterfinals.
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Group C: In the final Group C matches, both England-Slovenia and Denmark-Serbia ended in scoreless draws (only seven goals were scored in six Group C matches). As a result, England won the group and will next face a third-place team, and Denmark finished second. Slovenia finished third but is assured a spot in the knockout round, and Serbia was eliminated.
Group D: Austria stunned the Netherlands, 3-2, on Tuesday to secure its first Euro group victory in three tournament appearances. Austria will face the Group F runner-up in the round of 16 on July 2 in Leipzig. The Netherlands finished third in Group D, but its total of four points guarantees it a spot in the round of 16 against an opponent to be determined. In Tuesday’s other Group D match, France could only manage a 1-1 draw with Poland, with both goals coming on penalties. France finished second in the group and will face Belgium on Monday in Düsseldorf. Poland finished with one point and was eliminated.
