Euros 2020

[Red Ranger 1]

Yep, 0-0 after all that hype, but it's not necessarily a bad thing: England will finish top if they beat Czech Republic and are guaranteed at least third, which could be enough, while Scotland will finish at least third if they beat Croatia, who've been oddly muted given they were in the World Cup final three years ago.

Meanwhile, Belgium and Netherlands have clocked up second wins, which are enough to put them through.Sweden beat Slovakia, so that group's wide open.

[Slade]

Belgium are impressive going forward but they are going to have problems when they come up against a team which is defensively sound as they are quite dodgy at the back.

It's hard to imagine England as second favourites in the tournament given their first 2 performances.  Scotland did very well to get a draw but I can't see them qualifying as I don't think they will beat Croatia.  England will obviously want to top the group to avoid difficult second round opposition.

A surprise draw for Hungary against France.  The stadium was virtually full.  TBH France should have won that game given how many chances they had.  Now they've got a potentially difficult final group game with Portugal, a repeat of the last Euro final.

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, I said that death group might come down to how they all did against Hungary and it may yet.Despite being top of the group, France have left themselves a bit vulnerable: If Germany beat Hungary, they'll need a result against Portugal to avoid finishing third.

Poland get a 1-1 draw against Spain despite two key VAR decisions going against them.That penalty was one where I could both see it being given and see it not being given.(On the one hand, he stepped on the guy's foot.On the other hand, he needed to put his foot somewhere.) But then they missed both the penalty and the rebound, so that's another group that's wide open.

Deciding matches in Wales' group tomorrow. They're in a good place to qualify on paper, but Italy could be a tough one.

[Slade]

The Germans looked strong.  Much better performance against Portugal although I thought they were a bit unlucky against France.  I'm not sure how vulnerable France are but at least it's in their own hands.  They are in a better position than Portugal.  Portugal have to beat France to ensure they don't finish in third place.  France don't necessarily have to beat Portugal to ensure they finish at least second.  If France win, they top the group regardless of what happens with Germany/Hungary.  If Germany fail to beat Hungary and France get a result against Portugal they top the group.  In saying that I think the Germans are the most likely to qualify and win the group because you would expect them to beat Hungary pretty comfortably.  Whereas a draw seems a more likely result with France/Portugal.

So Italy defeat Wales 1-0 to win the group with Wales finishing in second place on goal difference aided by a goal from Turkey.  Despite beating Turkey 3-1 the Swiss have to wait it out in terms of qualification for third place.  This Italian side are unlike any other I've seen before.  They play a high press/tempo game and Wales were pinned to their own half for a large periods in the match and were lucky to only lose 1-0.  They also struggled to get the ball of the Italians.  Thought the sending off was harsh but even dropping most of their first team, Italy were still impressive despite wasting a lot of chances.  With their 10th clean sheet in a row, on a run of 30 games unbeaten, they will be difficult.

 

[Red Ranger 1]

Yep, Wales finish second on goal difference. Italy, Netherlands and Belgium all get three wins out of three. Having lost their first two games, Denmark hammer Russia to finish second on goal difference as well. "Teemu Pukki's Finland", as Radio Norfolk seem to have decided they're called, get third place but it's going to require some big slip-ups in the remaining three groups for them to qualify. (Ironically, despite what I said above, France giving Portugal's goal difference a battering would possibly see them eliminated.)

Good news for Switzerland though: Ukraine and Finland finishing third with worse records means they qualify. Austria get the second place in Group B.

And England and Scotland both up tomorrow: Wins would get them both through.(In fact, similar to Switzerland, England are already guaranteed qualification even if they finish third, because they've done better in two games than some third-placed teams have in three!)

[CaptainHulk]

The real test is coming soon... The KNOCKOUTS!

[pembie]

6 hours ago, CaptainHulk said:

The real test is coming soon... The KNOCKOUTS!

The problem there is we will have France Germany or Portgtal which I don’t see is winning any of those We need to cross into the box or maybe take lucky shots instead of waiting till we are close to the goal oh and stop passing the ball backwards 

[Red Ranger 1]

England win and top the group. There's still a slim possibility we'll face Hungary in the next round, but it'll probably be Germany or Portugal, both of whom have a history of knocking England out. Scotland lose and fail to get out of the group stage of a major tournament yet again. (Bit worrying to see Hanley go off injured, even if he seemed to be moving okay.) Croatia finish second, Czech Republic join Switzerland in the guaranteed third place qualifiers column.

Last group matches tomorrow.We're now at the point where Finland and Poland can't both qualify.

[pembie]

Is it wrong that I have been impressed with Germany in the words of Basil Fawity nobody mention the war but I’m sure that’s us out on Tuesday haha I’m hoping for pentlys because at least that would be exciting 

[Slade]

Very exciting finish to Group F.  Funny how the commentator mentioned that Portugal were the only team throughout the course of their match with France to occupy first, second, third and bottom of their group.  Three penalties was a lot but I'm glad Portugal drew 2-2 with France as I don't think they deserved to lose that match.  Ronaldo continues to break records and Germany are 10 minutes from going out but rescue it to draw 2-2 with Hungary.  I think the Hungarians did their country proud considering the group they were in.

So Germany against England at Wembley on Tuesday.  I think these are the sort of matches you want to see with the big teams.  England have got the job done but that's as much as I can say about them.  They've not been very impressive and they are going to have to play a lot better than they did against Scotland and the Czech Republic to stand any chance of progressing.  But I fancy the Germany's to beat them.

Belgium/Portugal looks quite tasty.  I actually think Belgium are going to find it very difficult as Portugal will tighten things up.