After half the distance, an obvious leader and an outsider have formed in Group C, while three other teams will compete for a second ticket to the European Championship.
The Ukrainian national team completed the September campaign in qualifying for Euro 2024, which will be held next summer on the fields of Germany, with one point. First, Sergei Rebrov’s team drew 1:1 with England in Wroclaw, and then lost to the Italian national team 1:2 in Milan.
The game with the Italians at San Siro was considered one of the key ones in the context of the strategy of our fight to reach the final part of the European championship. If the Ukrainian team had managed to get at least a draw in this match, it would have maintained a three-point advantage over Italy, albeit with a game in hand for Squadra Azzurra.
Alignment in Group C before the decisive qualifying period
The defeat in the match with the Italian team led to the fact that Ukraine and Italy had 7 points each before the October session of games, but the Italians, as mentioned above, had one less game played.
At the same time, not only Ukraine and Italy, but also North Macedonia, which in the last two matches drew with Italy 1:1 and defeated Malta :0. Thus, after five games, the Macedonians have the same 7 points as the Ukrainians and Italians. Malta, with a “steering wheel” in the “points scored” column, is the unconditional outsider of the group.
Ukraine has three finals ahead
The next qualifying matches for the European Championship will take place in October and November. In October, the Ukrainian national team will play first a nominally home match with North Macedonia (October 14), and then away with Malta (October 17). In order to continue the real fight for a ticket to the Euro, in these meetings it is necessary to achieve the maximum result, that is, take 6 points.
The Ukrainians will play the final match in the qualifying round on November 20 against Italy. This nominally home meeting could potentially be a head-to-head battle for the opportunity to go to the Euros in Germany next summer.
Schedule of opponents of the Ukrainian national team
Italy will first play at home against Malta in October, and this is almost one hundred percent three points for Squadra Azzurra, and then go on a trip to England (in this match, Ukrainians should root for the founders of football). In November, as noted above, the Italians will face a confrontation with our team.
North Macedonia will play only one match in October – against Ukraine, and in November the Macedonians will be tested with games against Italy and England. North Macedonia has an away meeting with the Italians, and a home meeting with the British.
Finally, we note that in case of equality of points in the group, head-to-head matches are taken into account first, and only then the goal difference.
Previously reported position teams in all 10 groups in qualifying for the 2024 European Championship after half of the matches played.
Author: Artem Malinovsky
2023-09-15 05:15:28
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