1:2, Haaland is desperate! Norway missed the play-offs, bid farewell to the European Cup, and missed the Ballon d'Or in advance
The penultimate round of European Championship qualifiers has ended, and the qualification situation of each group is about to be clear, after this round of competition, including the German team, 16 teams have confirmed the right to participate in the main competition. As the saying goes, some people are happy and some are worried, Norway, which has not qualified for the group, has been declared out, and it is the kind that has not even qualified for the play-offs.
According to the European Championship qualifying format, the top two teams from each of the 10 groups will qualify, while the remaining three places will be decided through play-offs. Qualification for the play-offs is not linked to the qualifying standings, but is based on last summer's UEFA Nations League results. The three brackets of the UEFA Nations League, B, and C, form a play-off semi-zone to determine the final three tickets to the European Cup.
Each of the four divisions of the UEFA Nations League ABCD will have a place in the main round of the European Championship, and the winners of each group will participate in the qualifying play-offs. If the top team has already qualified, it will be extended to the team at the top of the current division, Norway were in Pot B last year, and last year's Group B winners were Scotland, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Scotland are currently in second place in Group G, and a home win over Bulgaria in the final round will also qualify Serbia.
In this round of matches, Israel lost 1:2 to Romania, which means that Romania has become the 16th team to qualify for the main round of the European Championship, but Israel relies on the result of winning one of the groups in the UEFA Nations League B, occupying a play-off place in the path B. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland are in the same group, and both teams are out of the group, but Bosnia and Herzegovina can occupy a place in the B play-offs by relying on the world ranking higher than Iceland.
Thirteen of the A-tier teams have qualified for next year's European Championships, but the two groups need to be clarified: Italy in Group C (along with Ukraine), Croatia and Wales in Group D, and Poland and the Czech Republic in Group E. Turkey in Group D have already qualified, and one team from the same group, Croatia and Wales, will certainly not be able to make it through to the European Championships, and Croatia or Wales will certainly occupy a place in Tier A. The Czech Republic have already qualified in Group E, while Poland have missed out on qualifying from the group, so Poland occupies a place in Tier A.
The last one depends on the results of the final round between Italy and Ukraine, and if Ukraine squeezes out Italy, they will qualify directly. Then, Italy, Poland and Wales (Croatia) will form a division in Tier A, and if there are not enough teams in Category A, they will have to find substitutes from the lowest Tier D, and Estonia, which is the first in Tier D, will be added to form a division with Italy, Poland and Croatia (Wales).
If Italy finally squeezes out Ukraine and advances directly, then Ukraine will most likely return to Zone B. Pot A is Croatia (Wales), Poland, Estonia and Tier B, with Iceland as the substitute, in which case the play-off teams in Pot B are Israel, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Finland. As for why Finland, it is because of last year's UEFA Nations League results, Finland was in 5th place in Pot B and Norway 8th.
Norway can only vacate a place if Italy directly qualifies and Israel overtakes Romania to qualify, so Norway can only qualify for the play-offs if the following two conditions are met: Italy beats Ukraine to qualify directly for the European Championship, Israel beats Romania to qualify directly, and in other cases, Haaland will not be able to participate in the European Championship;
Widely regarded as one of the future leaders of football, Haaland has made a big splash at Manchester City, won the treble last season, and finished second in this year's Ballon d'Or, but the weakness of the national team's record has become his biggest obstacle, and after it was confirmed that he will not qualify for the European Championship, Haaland once again lost hope of participating in the tournament. Even if Manchester City can still win the club championship this year, in the case of a major tournament, once Bellingham, Kane or Mbappe lead the team to win the European Championship, Haaland may be accompanied again in next year's Ballon d'Or selection.