EURO 2024 - Discussion Thread

[mccaughey85]

3 minutes ago, Hendricks said:

 

Going to be tough in leagueA. Lets just hope we can get 1 or 2 decent results. If hungary can do it then we should be able to as well.

[Caledonian Craig]

This would be the dream draw:-

 

[Clyde1998]

14 minutes ago, Hendricks said:

 

There's a few brutal draws we could get (Netherlands, Portugal, Germany & Spain, Belgium, France stand out), whilst there's also Croatia, Hungary, Poland/Switzerland which looks like a group we could compete in.

I think our expectations of how well we do next time should be set based on who we draw.

[Caledonian Craig]

18 minutes ago, Clyde1998 said:

There's a few brutal draws we could get (Netherlands, Portugal, Germany & Spain, Belgium, France stand out), whilst there's also Croatia, Hungary, Poland/Switzerland which looks like a group we could compete in.

I think our expectations of how well we do next time should be set based on who we draw.

Well we did play Netherlands in a friendly a couple of years back and did not lose. We recently played Poland in a friendly and drew so we can compete with the topbteams. We also beat Denmark too.

[Tartan Chris]

Would be very confident of qualifying from this for euros:

 

1st Poland- Still got Lewandowski but don't think the rest of their side is as strong as in 2016 qualifiers and gave them really good games home and away back then.

3rd Iceland- On the decline after their golden period and good historical record v them.

4th Faroes- Probably the weakest of the fourth seeds. Was going to say Luxembourg aswell but they've improved over last 5 years and generally competitive v whoever they play (got a 0-0 away to France years back).

5th- Has some tricky trips in that. Cyprus would be o.k given the wins v them in 2019 nations league.

6th- Dosen't matter. Has to be 6 points on the board to have serious chance of top 2.

Probably too soft a group to be realistic but then the world cup draw was the best for decades and so it proved with a comfortable 2nd place finish.

[Hendricks]

Something to note with the next Nations League campaign is that we won't be playing any of these fixtures for at least 18 months! So a Germany who looked fucking gash against England last night could have an entirely new side or a Belgium who will have lost even more of their 'golden' generation could be going through a transitional period. Plenty will change plus our young players will be even better!!! 

 

The reason for this is that due to this years World Cup the calendar is all over the place and 2023 will see Euro 2024 qualifiers in March, June, September, October and November. So Nations League won't start until March 2024. How they fit those around the actual Euro Championships in the summer of 2024 and then World Cup 2026 qualifying, is anyones guess! 

[Tartan Chris]

7 minutes ago, Hendricks said:

Something to note with the next Nations League campaign is that we won't be playing any of these fixtures for at least 18 months! So a Germany who looked fucking gash against England last night could have an entirely new side or a Belgium who will have lost even more of their 'golden' generation could be going through a transitional period. Plenty will change plus our young players will be even better!!! 

 

The reason for this is that due to this years World Cup the calendar is all over the place and 2023 will see Euro 2024 qualifiers in March, June, September, October and November. So Nations League won't start until March 2024. How they fit those around the actual Euro Championships in the summer of 2024 and then World Cup 2026 qualifying, is anyones guess! 

It's only 4 team groups so you could feasilbly get it done in two matchdays if you play 3 games in the two week period as happened for much of last 18 months.

[mccaughey85]

8 minutes ago, Tartan Chris said:

It's only 4 team groups so you could feasilbly get it done in two matchdays if you play 3 games in the two week period as happened for much of last 18 months.

I think its best to pick bigger squads when we have three international games in a row. We have seen how depleted our squad became for the final ukraine game and its best we make sure we are not in a situation like that again. 

[mccaughey85]

1 hour ago, Caledonian Craig said:

This would be the dream draw:-

 

I think i would marginally prefer poland to denmark. Normally hungary would be desirable as well but they got amazing results in their nations league with what looks like an average squad/team.

I think being pot2 has really upped our chances of a favourable group and therefore increased our chances of qualifying automatically.

[Texas Pete]

4 hours ago, exile said:

What a sight to behold. 

[Texas Pete]

1 hour ago, Tartan Chris said:

Would be very confident of qualifying from this for euros:

 

1st Poland- Still got Lewandowski but don't think the rest of their side is as strong as in 2016 qualifiers and gave them really good games home and away back then.

3rd Iceland- On the decline after their golden period and good historical record v them.

4th Faroes- Probably the weakest of the fourth seeds. Was going to say Luxembourg aswell but they've improved over last 5 years and generally competitive v whoever they play (got a 0-0 away to France years back).

5th- Has some tricky trips in that. Cyprus would be o.k given the wins v them in 2019 nations league.

6th- Dosen't matter. Has to be 6 points on the board to have serious chance of top 2.

Probably too soft a group to be realistic but then the world cup draw was the best for decades and so it proved with a comfortable 2nd place finish.

Not sure if fancy they Faroes to be honest. We’ve had enough trouble with them in the past when they weren’t beating the likes of Turkey. 

 

[Texas Pete]

54 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

I think i would marginally prefer poland to denmark. Normally hungary would be desirable as well but they got amazing results in their nations league with what looks like an average squad/team.

I think being pot2 has really upped our chances of a favourable group and therefore increased our chances of qualifying automatically.

Hungary are playing very well at the moment but will they be playing as well in a couple of years? 

[Hendricks]

19 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

Hungary are playing very well at the moment but will they be playing as well in a couple of years? 

We could draw Hungary as our Pot 1 seed in the Euro draw next week too. 

[mccaughey85]

27 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

Hungary are playing very well at the moment but will they be playing as well in a couple of years? 

From looking at their team/squad its not that strong. They must be playing really well as a team to be getting the results they have got. There certainly isnt many star names or guys playing for top clubs.

[Caledonian Craig]

Looking further ahead and our World Cup seeding - well at present we are 21st placed UEFA team in FIFA's live rankings so we are on the cusp of Pot 2. We are just behind Ukraine and considering we should have a slightly easier draw for the Euros than Pot 3 Ukraine then there is a chance to nip into Pot 2. As far as I recall the World Cup qualifying seedings goes by FIFA rankings.

Edited September 28, 2022 by Caledonian Craig

[mccaughey85]

3 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Looking further ahead and our World Cup seeding - well at present we are 21st placed UEFA team in FIFA's live rankings so we are on the cusp of Pot 2. We are just behind Ukraine and considering we should have a slightly easier draw for the Euros than Pot 3 Ukraine then there is a chance to nip into Pot 2. As far as I recall the World Cup qualifying seedings goes by FIFA rankings.

A good euro qualifying campaign should bring us into pot 2. 

[Toepoke]

6 hours ago, Hendricks said:

 How they fit those around the actual Euro Championships in the summer of 2024 and then World Cup 2026 qualifying, is anyones guess! 

Whereas before qualifying groups for the World Cup and Euros were spread over two years, the format now seems to be play the Nations League in the first year and the qualifying group in the second. 

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Toepoke

[TartanSpice]

2024-2025 Nations League wiki page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–25_UEFA_Nations_League :

 

Possible addition of CONMEBOL teams[edit]

In an interview with Polish website meczyki.pl, UEFA vice-president Zbigniew Boniek said that all ten teams from CONMEBOL, South America's football federation, may join the UEFA Nations League from the 2024–25 edition of the competition.^[8] The plans, which would act as a response to FIFA's biennial World Cup plans, are part of enhanced cooperation between the two organisations following the signing of a memorandum of understanding and the opening of a joint office in London.^[9] The proposal would see the six highest-ranked South American teams joining League A, with the remaining four joining League B. However, as CONMEBOL submitted a request to FIFA to maintain the round-robin qualification format for the 2026 FIFA World Cup,^[10] the possibility of adding South American teams remains in question.

[Orraloon]

10 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

This would be the dream draw:-

 

England will get that draw instead of us. Although I think Melchester Rovers might give them a decent game this time round. 😂

[Orraloon]

If we need a playoff do we get Israel and Serbia again?

[Templeton_Peck]

10 minutes ago, Orraloon said:

If we need a playoff do we get Israel and Serbia again?

Yeah I realised this again last night. So probably best to hope Serbia qualify automatically.

[Orraloon]

3 minutes ago, Templeton_Peck said:

Yeah I realised this again last night. So probably best to hope Serbia qualify automatically.

And if Finland qualify directly as well, we could get Ukraine again. 😂

[Tartan Chris]

8 hours ago, Texas Pete said:

Not sure if fancy they Faroes to be honest. We’ve had enough trouble with them in the past when they weren’t beating the likes of Turkey. 

 

Euro 2008 qualifiers smashed them first game 6-0, felt like every attack was a goal. Then away game was reasonably comfortable IIRC.

Rather have that than having to trek to Kazakhstan again. Georgia are improving and that is pretty bogey away trip for this nation.

North Macedonia also lurking in pot 4 and qualifying for a euros is very realistic for them these days as they proved last time.

Edited September 28, 2022 by Tartan Chris

[Tartan Chris]

4 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Looking further ahead and our World Cup seeding - well at present we are 21st placed UEFA team in FIFA's live rankings so we are on the cusp of Pot 2. We are just behind Ukraine and considering we should have a slightly easier draw for the Euros than Pot 3 Ukraine then there is a chance to nip into Pot 2. As far as I recall the World Cup qualifying seedings goes by FIFA rankings.

How's the allocation work with three extra places? Bit like France 98 and say two 2nd place teams go through automatically? Or you just pool some nations league winners in with 2nds and have larger play off competition?

Even in pot 2 you're still very likely to be in a group with one of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Holland etc so pretty unlikely you'd win the group so I wouldn't say pot 2 is as significant for world cup draw as for euros.

[Orraloon]

47 minutes ago, Tartan Chris said:

How's the allocation work with three extra places? Bit like France 98 and say two 2nd place teams go through automatically? Or you just pool some nations league winners in with 2nds and have larger play off competition?

Even in pot 2 you're still very likely to be in a group with one of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Holland etc so pretty unlikely you'd win the group so I wouldn't say pot 2 is as significant for world cup draw as for euros.

They haven't decided any of that yet. Or, if they have, they haven't announced it. There are loads of different permutations available to them. I'm pretty sure finishing 2nd in the group will get at least a playoff though? I think they will also want to include some teams getting into the playoffs via the Nations League just to keep pushing the profile of the Nations League. I've no idea when they plan to let us know the format.