It took 36 games to get rid of eight teams. It will take another 15 to dispense with another 15. There may be an unbalanced element to Euro 2024, taking a long time to remove a third of the sides and then rushing to expel the others. The last few days have been marked by reprieves for those who occupied third place; the way 16 of 24 advanced meant Slovenia and Slovakia can settle for draws in their final group games.
At times he has underlined the argument that there is a purity and a greater sense of danger in the old four-group model. Certainly, overloaded with quality equipment, Groups B and D were a throwback to the days of the 16-team European Championships; reasons to regret expansion, perhaps. If the tournament had been smaller, there would have been more group games, like Croatia against Italy, with everything at stake. As it turned out, Italy would have been left out if not for the late equalizer.
Nostalgics could be forgiven for longing for the old format. Still, the departing sides offered something of an endorsement for a 24-nation competition. Each of the eight contributed something; some a lot.
In the case of Scotland, the impressive element resulted more from the effervescent support than the underwhelming staff; Even so, however, Steve Clarke’s side at least faced an impressive Swiss side. But the Scottish fans illustrated a point: some of the atmosphere came from the traveling armies who will now return home, whether the spaghetti-eating Albanians or the Croatians who have turned Leipzig into an enclave of Zagreb. Reprehensible chants about the Serbs have brought punishments, but it is notable that some of the smaller nations have brought larger fan bases. In the case of Ukraine, they had a symbolic value that went far beyond football.
Croatia are perennials in the World Cup, but the majority of those eliminated are not. The fact that seven of the eight anticipated matches are from Eastern Europe is significant. Europe’s World Cup spots tend to be dominated by those in the western half of the continent. Italy managed to miss the last two tournaments, but the top five nations usually qualify, often joined by Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands. If the expansion of the European Championship was conceived with its more eastern counterparts in mind, there has been a footballing logic.
Europe has enough strength in depth that Croatia, second and third in the last two World Cups, could be eliminated at the first hurdle; that Slovenia and Georgia, who felt like two of the three Euro 2024 outsiders, have progressed. Virtually every game was close: the first was the only one decided by a four-goal margin, when Germany defeated Scotland 5-1, and only three more saw their respective teams separated by three goals.
Each team won at least one point, some against the favorites. Croatia were seconds away from defeating champions Italy. Poland drew with World Cup finalists France. They demonstrated an ability to upset their supposed superiors. Albania scored after 23 seconds against Italy. Czechia led against Portugal. Several could attribute their absence in the knockout stage, in part, to late goals: Czechia conceded victory to Portugal and Turkey in stoppage time, Scotland scored one against Hungary, Croatia scored two equalizers in stoppage time.
But, even on the way out, there were moments of real emotion that some were able to savor: Luka Jovic’s goal in the 95th minute for Serbia against Slovenia, Klaus Gjasula’s equally late goal for Albania against Croatia and Kevin Csoboth’s decisive goal in the 99th minute against Scotland. There was the bittersweet double of the missed penalty and Luka Modric’s goal 33 seconds later, in the draw with Italy.
There were touches of quality: Roman Yaremchuk’s injury-time goal for Romania against Slovakia, and Lukas Provod’s opening goal for the Czechs against Portugal. There was something valiant about the Czechs’ efforts to beat Turkey with 10 men, as there was in Croatia’s huge effort against Italy. Each of them can lament individual inspiration: Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was inspired to deny the Czechs victory in that match, Italian substitute Mattia Zaccagni scored one of the goals of the tournament to thwart Croatia.
Some only had a poor performance to regret: Hungary’s against Switzerland, Ukraine’s against Romania. Poland probably had none. Both they and Croatia have the right to think that if they had been in four of the other five groups they would have progressed. In contrast, Scotland, Serbia and Hungary performed poorly; even so, Serbia only lost one game. Albania may have exceeded expectations; in fact, they have led for more minutes than Portugal so far.
They would have been a welcome presence in the knockout stage, just like Croatia. Modric and Robert Lewandowski represent the biggest names who will now not take part in the knockout stage, one a Ballon d’Or winner, the other who could have been had the award been awarded in 2020. Now neither made this particular selection. But if a 24-team format has obvious imperfections, the continent has enough relatively balanced teams to fill it. And the eight excluded, in their own way, contributed to the flavor, color and drama of Euro 2024.
