Thanks to Slovakia, UEFA avoids embarassmment: the Irish don't have to 'let' the Dutch through

First, by expanding the European Championship to 24 participants, and then by creating the Nations League, through which it is also possible to go to the continental tournament, UEFA made a 'clumsy' system. A situation almost happened that the Republic of Ireland would have to lose to the Netherlands in Amsterdam, that is, UEFA would practically force the Irish to fix the match. Fortunately for the European head football institution, Slovakia eliminated Iceland in the second qualifying group and thus prevented the absurdity of the competition. Because of this, the Irish can no longer enter the playoffs through the Nations League and now only the Dutch have a competitive motive at the Johan Cruyff Arena.

You probably already know, but let's repeat: 20 teams go to the European Championship through the qualifiers, three through the play-off, and the host Germany automatically qualified for the final tournament. Therefore, the two best teams from each qualification group will definitely go to the continental tournament, after which the results of the previous edition of the Nations League will be considered for the remaining three places.

It is intended that the winners of each group from the first three divisions of that competition play a play-off between themselves (semi-finals and finals, one match each). Thus, each division would give one representative to the EURO.

However, there are not a small number of teams that were the best in their groups, and at the same time they have already secured placement. Then there is a shift in the tables of the final standings of the Nations League, until each division receives four teams in the draw.

The Republic of Ireland was 10th in order in the B division, i.e. 26th overall, which at the very start meant that there was no great chance of reaching the playoffs. It had to match a large number of results, so that 19 (including Germany) better-ranked selections won a direct placement.

In the A division, they mostly justified their roles as favorites. At the moment, only the Poles (with no chance of being second) and the Croats (they or Wales will go to the EURO) are below the line. It is still uncertain what will happen to the Czechs, they will play against Moldova in a direct match for placement, while Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland are close to confirming the first two positions. So, in the best case for Ireland, 14 national teams from the A division will secure the attendance. According to the current state of affairs, Croatia and Poland will head to the playoff.

If it remains like this (the situation will not change even if the Checkered Ones skip Wales in the D group table), Estonia will play the play-off as the best team in the D division, and the remaining place will be filled by a team from the B division. The fifth best in the ranking.

Of the teams from the B division, those who are better than Ireland - Scotland qualified for the European Championship, and Serbia is very close. Albania also went to the championship, with the fact that they were worse than the Irish in the Nations League. The current order pushes Iceland into the playoffs, but in the stronger division, while the Norwegians are cheering for Israel.

Next in line would be Ireland, but there is no other team ahead of them that could still qualify for the European Championship. Slovakia, a team from the C division, tripped the Celts by eliminating Iceland. On Thursday, they beat them 4-2 and thus secured second place, ahead of the Vikings.

The Slovaks have done UEFA such a great service, because everyone who was involved in these calculations before this international break saw one thing. It concerns today's match in Amsterdam - in Group B, France secured the first place and placement at the EURO, while the Netherlands and Greece are fighting for the second position. The Irish are definitely fourth, they were better only than Gibraltar.

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According to the Nations League, the Netherlands were better and Greece were worse than the Republic of Ireland. So, if Iceland could still qualify directly for the European Championship, the Irish would be rooting with all their hearts to beat the Oranje tonight. It would be competitively justified for them to play a lower intensity match in Amsterdam, or in popular terms - to let the Netherlands through.

After the October matches, UEFA was also aware of this absurdity. At that time, they issued a statement, appealing to the Irish to show sportsmanship and to play a fair game, so that the Greeks would not be harmed. Now, there is no longer that fear. Of course, the world noticed the illogicalities in this system and it will be interesting to see if the European House of Football will change the system for the next European Championship.

By the way, Greece has already qualified through the Nations League, but in Group C. So we will most likely see them in the matches scheduled for March. Even if Ireland beat the Netherlands, the Dutch still have everything in their hands and in the last round they need to overcome Gibraltar. Maybe not even that, if Greece doesn't beat France.

The play-off draw is scheduled for November 23, the semi-final matches will be played on the 21st, and the final on March 26. Before that, it will already be known in which groups the winners of the play-off will participate, since the draw for the European Championship is scheduled for December 2.

EURO 2024 QUALIFIERS

Saturday

17:00: (4.40) Armenia (3.50) Wales (1.95)

20:00: (1.57) Belarus (3.80) Andorra (8.00)

20:00: (22.0) Latvia (10.5) Croatia (1.13)

22:45: (1.33) Switzerland (5.40) Kosovo (11.0)

22:45: (1.15) Netherlands (9.50) R.Ireland (19.0)

22:45: (2.85) Israel (3.20) Romania (2.60)

22:45: (1.01) France (25.0) Gibraltar (70.0)

***odds are subject to change***