Munich – This is relatively easy for tournaments with 16 or 32 tournaments. The two best teams in a group advance, the rest are eliminated. But what about the 24 teams participating?

ran.de EM 2021 Table Calculator – Who will be the European Champion

Euro 2020: Four-thirds advance in group

One thing remains the same: whoever takes one of the first two places in the group may be eager to take part in the knockout stage, no doubt. But with six groups that would only have twelve participants in the round of 16.

Therefore, the four best thirds in the group also manage to advance. This means, out of six players who finished third, you only have to manage not to be among the two worst players.

Take Germany as an example: if the DFB-Elf loses against Portugal and France, but wins against Hungary, there is still a chance for a round of 16 if two thirds in the group get two or only one point. do or have a weaker target the difference with the same number of points.

Albania’s extreme case

Looking back on 2016, EM in France was the first in France with 24 instead of the previous 16 participants, so also the first in which the group could advance by a third. Albania lost the first two games against France and Switzerland, with Albania winning 1–0 in the third game.

Due to the goal difference of three points and zero to two, the Albanians still had every chance to progress, but they had to expect the same results from the other groups.

With Albania in Group A and therefore playing as quickly as possible, they had to wait until three days before they knew they were two goals short of a best third. It cannot be ruled out that such will be the case at Euro 2020.

EM 2020 – Within group: direct comparison matters

While the goal difference is decisive for all groups, in the case of a tie, the result of the direct duel counts first, and the group’s goal difference is much later.

An example: In Germany’s Group F, the DFB-Elf and Portugal both get one point against France. However, while Germany defeated Portugal, they lost the game against Hungary, while the Portuguese won. Despite a potentially worse goal difference, Germany finished second ahead of Portugal as they won a straight duel.

In case of tie, the priority of the criteria is as follows:

1. Direct comparison

2. Better target spacing than direct

3. More goals scored than direct

4. Goal Difference in Groups

5. More goals scored in the group

If all these criteria are tied between two teams, the use of a penalty shoot-out, which is conducted exclusively. Decision by point changes much of the drawing, which still came into play in the 1990 World Cup, when Ireland and the Netherlands were second on point and goal.

Much was set for Ireland at the time, with the Netherlands playing third in Group F against Germany, llama drama taking its course – and Germany’s path to the World Cup.

Kai Essero

Do you want the most important EM news, videos and data right on your smartphone? Then get the new Run app with push notifications for the most important news about your favorite sport. Available in App Store for Apple And Android.