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Spain top the group with nine points, five goals scored, none conceded. Albania finish bottom and despite having their moments and a raucous set of fans, are out of Euro 2024. Here’s how things finished in Group B.
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| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| 2 | Italy | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Croatia | 3 | -3 | 2 |
| 4 | Albania | 3 | -2 | 1 |
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Croatia are not yet out, as they still have slim hopes of qualifying as one of the four best third-placed teams of the six groups. But on just two points they need a very particular set of results to be one of those teams.
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• Portugal to beat Georgia
\n • Turkey to beat Czech Republic
\n • England to beat Slovenia by three or more goals
\n • Denmark to beat Serbia
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As per Uefa, the four best third-placed teams across the six groups are determined, in the order given, by the following criteria:
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1) Higher number of points
\n 2) Goal difference
\n 3) Goals scored
\n 4) Higher number of wins
\n 5) Lower disciplinary record
\n 6) Position in the overall European Qualifiers rankings
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A lot of those results do indeed seem likely, but as anyone that has ever put an accumulator on, these things rarely happen all at once.
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That was yesterday, this is today. We have a whopping four games for you today, every one of them a potential cracker.
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France v Poland (5pm BST)
\n Netherlands v Austria (5pm)
\n Denmark v Serbia (8pm)
\n England v Slovenia (8pm)
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“FOUR games, Jeremy. That’s insane”.
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Important Events
Looks like Conor Gallagher An injection of energy and work ethic into England’s midfield tonight. Some may criticise Southgate’s changes, but England need to improve their pressing significantly and the Chelsea player will help there. Coby Mainu or even Jude Bellingham dropping into the No.8 role would have been a more exciting choice, but Gallagher played well in his two appearances off the bench.
Below is an extract that The Guardian wrote about him from their complete guide to every player at Euro 2024.
Thank you, Michael. What a dramatic two nights we have had in this incredible tournament, and the excitement is sure to continue with England’s match tonight…
My blogging career is over.Now, I’ll hand the baton over to Dominic Booth. Cheers!
Paul McInnes
British police said 10,000 England fans descended on central Cologne last night ahead of the match against Slovenia but there were no reports of arrests or disturbances.
The area around Heumarkt was buzzing with activity all day, and by 10pm the streets were packed with young fans drinking, cheering and singing Scottish songs, but among the crowd were families and tourists keen to get involved (and capture the event on camera) in an atmosphere that would have been unthinkable a generation ago.
England’s football police force said the experience was “indicative of what we have seen across Germany so far, where the vast majority of English fans were extremely well behaved.”
Ramin Yamal, the hype is realHe only played around 20 minutes for Spain in last night’s game against Albania but made a huge difference when he was there.
This Ramin Yamal touch 😮💨Alipay | #EUROskills pic.twitter.com/Auy4j54Nff
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 24, 2024
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All the noise from the England camp It has been suggested that Conor Gallagher will replace Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield against Slovenia, and these new comments from Declan Rice to 5Live this morning seem to further solidify that theory. Rice played alongside Gallagher in Chelsea’s youth team before moving to West Ham. It’s a bit interesting to note that Rice says he “feels comfortable” with Gallagher, but perhaps the same sentiment isn’t shared at TAA.
I played alongside Gallagher at academy level and also against him at Palace and Chelsea. He’s a teammate I’d love to have in my team. He works hard and I feel very comfortable around him. I think he’s surprised a lot of people this year with his ability on the ball, the way he gets forward with the ball, the way he gets into the penalty area and scores goals. I think he’s a really positive player and has improved a lot over the past few years. You can really see how confident he is.
Every time I’ve played with Conn it’s not been too much of a struggle, I know him really well as a guy and as his family and he’s a lovely boy so it’s been a lot of fun and this is another great opportunity to make our mark.
It was Croatia’s final goal.That’s quite a strike.
Zaccani’s composure and finishing in the last minute…#Eurogot | Alipay Plus pic.twitter.com/pHyMHLzfot
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 24, 2024
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I don’t know if this has ever happened before. Photos of more desperate players.
🥇🇭🇷 UEFA Player of the Year: Luka Modric.
Heartbreaking for a legend. 💔 pic.twitter.com/VYoNlb73gt
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 24, 2024
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But there was one great moment in the post-match press conference.
Italian journalist Francesco Lepice paid Modric a beautiful tribute in what will likely be the final game of his career for Croatia 👏🇭🇷
— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) June 24, 2024
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Italian journalist Francesco Lepice paid Modric a beautiful tribute in what will likely be his final game of his career for Croatia 👏🇭🇷
— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) June 24, 2024
Meanwhile, the memes just keep on coming.
When Croatia found out that England needed a three-goal win to progress to the final pic.twitter.com/iusSEC9v3V
— Tom Williams (@tomwfootball) June 24, 2024
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preamble
The morning after the night before, Croatian and Italian fans would wake up with very different hangovers in Leipzig. Croatia was a minute or two away from overtaking their opponents and jumping into second place in Group B, but in the end, a powerful goal from Mattia Zaccagni in the 98th minute ensured that Italy would progress to the last 16 along with Spain.
Spain topped the group with nine points, five goals scored and no goals conceded, while Albania finished bottom and, despite good chances and the presence of raucous fans, missed out on qualifying for Euro 2024. Here are the results for Group B:
Croatia are not out yet, as they still have a slim chance of qualifying as one of the top four teams to finish in the top three out of their six-group, but they need just two points and a very special result to get in.
Portugal beats Georgia
Turkey beats Czech Republic
England beats Slovenia by more than three points
Denmark beats Serbia
According to UEFA, the top three places for the top four teams across the six groups will be determined according to the following criteria:
1) A large number of points
2) Goal difference
3) Scoring
4) More wins
5) Low disciplinary record
6) Overall ranking of the European Qualifiers
While many of these outcomes are certainly likely, anyone who has bet an accumulator will know that they rarely occur all at once.
That was yesterday and now it’s today. Today we have a whopping four games to choose from, all of which have the potential to be great.
France v Poland (5pm BST)
Netherlands v Austria (5 p.m.)
Denmark v Serbia (8 p.m.)
England v Slovenia (8 p.m.)
“Four games, Jeremy. That’s crazy.”
