One half of the Euro 2024 knockout stages looks set to feature a fleet of European powerhouses after Austria threw a cat among the pigeons by finishing ahead of France and the Netherlands in Group D.
Ralf Rangnick’s side got the better of a thrilling 3-2 win over the Netherlands on Tuesday evening while France were held to a 1-1 draw by bottom side Poland, sending France into side of the draw that already contains Spain, Portugal and hosts Germany.
There is still potential that England could end up in that side of the draw if they fail to top their group by getting the required result against Slovenia – as could Belgium with all four sides in Group E going into their final games level on three points.
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The other side of the draw meanwhile contains Switzerland and, more surprisingly, Austria, and will be joined by Turkey as long as they avoid defeat to the Czech Republic on Wednesday night.
The final allocation of third-placed sides is yet to be determined and won’t be settled until all the group games have been played.
On paper, that perhaps makes one side of the path to the final in Berlin next month more inviting than the other – but of course, things are rarely as simple as that.
Austria well prove that having come out on top of a very tough group in which they were widely expect to finish third.
Several of the big boys have been largely unconvincing so far in the tournament. France’s only two goals of the tournament coming via an own goal and a Kylian Mbappe penalty, while Italy needed a last-minute equaliser against Croatia to get out of group B in second place.
And as for England…well, ask us again after the Slovenia game is finished.
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