Euro 2023 quarter-finals. Difficult option for Ukraine at the tournament, not bad for entering the Olympics

The Ukrainian national team reached the quarterfinals of the European Championship from the second place in the group. Such a result will “force” our team to move to Cluj-Napoca, and also in the first round of the playoffs will meet with one of the favorites of the tournament. On the other hand, the results of the group stage in the other three quartets leave the blue-yellows with a good chance of qualifying for the 2024 Olympics. We understand.

Who goes to the Games

As we have noted more than once, three best teams will receive vouchers from Europe following the results of the Euro. True, without taking into account France, as the hostess of the Olympics, and England, as a country representing Great Britain. Taking into account the exit of the French and the British in the quarterfinals of the European Championship, it turns out that five teams claim three tickets.

July 1

• Georgia – Israel
• Switzerland – Spain

July 2

• England – Portugal
• France – Ukraine

The ideal alignment for Ukraine

Qualification to the semi-finals, subject to getting into 1/2 of England. In this case, blue-yellows will automatically receive a ticket to the Games.

Labor option for Ukraine

Win over France in the semi-finals, defeat England in the quarter-finals. In this case, the blue-yellows need to either reach the final, or win the match for third place, which will also be a duel for a third ticket to the Olympics.

Difficult option for Ukraine

Lost to France in the quarter-finals, reaching the semi-finals of England. In this situation, there will be two applicants for three tickets without Ukraine. The last one will be played by the two best teams that were eliminated in the quarterfinals. They are determined by several criteria, but now we will evaluate the main ones: the highest position in the group stage, the best number of points in the group stage, the best goal difference in the group stage, a large number of goals scored in the group stage.

At the moment, the ranking of the quarter-finalists, excluding England and France, looks like this:

1. Spain – 1st place, 7 points
2. Georgia – 1st place, 5 points
3. Ukraine – 2nd place, 7 points
4. Portugal – 2nd place, 4 points
5. Israel – 2nd place, 4 points
6. Switzerland – 2nd place, 3 points

It turns out that in such scenarios, in case of losing the match with France and the victory of England over Portugal, Ukraine needs to hope that Spain or Georgia will reach the semi-finals. Or these two countries. In the first case, the Rotan team will play for the third ticket to the 2024 Olympics with Georgia or Spain, in the second – with Portugal. If Spain or Georgia lose their quarter-final matches, it is they who will compete for a ticket to the Olympics. And this is another “price” of the second place in the group.