Euros 2024 has been an outstanding tournament so far. From spectacular long range shots to a barrage of own goals. From defensive masterclasses to superbly fluid attacking displays. From nail-biting thrillers to 1-1 snoozefests. And now it has delivered football fans with another quite historic moment. For the first time in this prestigious competitions history, all 4 teams in the same group find themselves tied with each other on 3 points apiece.
The Group E consists of the 3rd ranked National team in the world, Belgium along with Romania, Ukraine and Slovakia. Despite what others may think, the clear favourite to win the group, and the Goliath amongst the Davids, Belgium were on bottom of the group after the first round of matches. All because of a wonderful footballing display by Slovakia who managed to beat Belgium 1 goal to nil despite being heavy underdogs. This victory gave them 3 points, a tally that they couldn’t add on in their second match against Ukraine as they lost against them 2-1 in what was a Euro classic. The Ukranians were badly beaten by a scoreline of 3-0 in their opening game by Romania who had as it felt like, 75% crowd support on the day. Their tally at the end of 2nd round of matches was 3 points. While Belgium managed to beat Romania convincingly by a margin of 2 goals to nil with Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyn slotting in their chances to get Belgium their first win and points in the tournament.
Such is the nature of this group, that the supposed favourites found themselves bottom of their group for a brief period of time. Currently, Romania sit atop Group E, with Belgium in 2nd, followed by Slovakia in 3rd and Ukraine in last place. With Group E’s teams playing against each other for Round of 16 qualifaction on Wednesday football fans would surely tune in to watch how the qualification scenario unfolds.
Belgium will play against Ukraine, while Romania will play against Slovakia. Both matches will have a tense atmosphere and buildup, as either of the four teams could not just qualify for the next round, but also hopefully top the group and get a favourable draw in the next round. While the second placed team and the third placed team could get a tougher opposition in the Round of 16. Belgium seems to have finally started to click, but the once touted “Golden Generation” which has now waned, will settle for nothing less than topping the group. For that to happen, they not only need to beat Ukraine, but beat them by a big margin to better their goal differential than Romania. On the other hand, Ukraine might need to pull out a rabbit out of their hat and go on to defeat the belgians as only a draw won’t quite cut it for them. That’s because Austria/France/Netherlands all have a much better GD than Ukraine in Group D, and if either of those 3 nations manage to get the 3rd spot, they will move forward due to the Euros qualification quota.
In the other match, Romania have a golden oppurtunity of topping their group if they manage to get a victory against Slovakia. This would provide them with a much easier draw. Meanwhile they might only be the only team in this group who might qualify even with just a draw against Slovakia thanks to their superior GD. On the other hand, for guaranteed qualification, all Slovakia has to do is win. If they manage to get a better GD than Belgium and Romania, they might even top the group. All other alternatives spell danger for Slovakia.
Group E is filled with exciting scenarios, we might even see all 4 teams stranded on 4 points come Wednesday, Although that’s highly unlikely. Never before has a group been so perfectly poised going into the third round of matches. While Belgium and Romania remain the clear favourites to qualify, if there’s one thing the Euros has teached us, its to expect the unexpected.
