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2024 European Cup group stage review
The knockout rounds of the 2024 European Cup are about to ignite the war. This European Cup is the second time that Germany will host the European Cup after 36 years. In the total of 36 games in the group stage of this European Cup, Germany scored 5 goals in the first game, Spain won and advanced, England was weak, Austria and Romania were first in the group, etc., etc., which have added a lot of topics to the game. This article will bring you Review the results of each group one by one.
Group A:
As the host, the German team showed terrible offensive firepower in the first game. In the first game against Scotland, which had stars such as Andrew Robertson and Scott McTominay, they scored 6 goals in the whole game (including Rüdiger’s own goal), and got off to a great start with a score of 5:1. In that game, the first two goals happened to be scored by the “German twin stars” Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala respectively, which was quite a sign of a successful replacement.
Deutsche Chariot faced Hungary in the second game and also easily defeated the opponent 2:0. In the final game of the group stage against Switzerland, the German team played with one goal behind for more than 70 minutes. However, the miracle was that Dortmund forward Niclas Füllkrug, who came on as a substitute, was injured. He scored an important tie in stoppage time to help the team keep a clean sheet, and finally advanced with 2 wins and 1 draw.
The second place in the group is the “Crusader” Switzerland. They have qualified for the fifth consecutive European Cup. They defeated Hungary 3:1 in the first game. Although they drew with Scotland and Germany in the following two games, they lost 5 points. The points are still enough for them to advance with second place in the group.
It is worth mentioning that although Switzerland’s fast winger Xherdan Shaqiri is 32 years old and has left the five major leagues, in the game against Scotland, Shaqiri hit a world wave outside the penalty area aimed at the blind spot. Reminiscent of the time he used an upside-down golden hook to score a beautiful long-range goal in the European Cup 8 years ago. Although Hungary finished third in the group, it still missed the chance to advance.
Group B
Group B of this European Cup is regarded as the “Group of Death” by the outside world because it includes Spain, Croatia and the defending team Italy. The first match of the group stage was a wonderful show. The Matador Legion with a full lineup faced the Croatian Legion. However, the game was unexpectedly one-sided. Spain won 3:0 in the first half and took the game away. Among them, Fabián Ruiz from PSG won the best player of the game with every pass and shot. Including Daniel Carvajal’s first goal for the national team and the pass assist from 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, Spain played a beautiful game.
In recent years, Spanish competition results have been unsatisfactory, and they gave up the “pass-and-control play” that won the 2010 World Cup championship. Instead, they played a new style. In the second game, they defeated Italy thrillingly with an own goal by their opponent, and in the third game, they also won by one goal. They narrowly missed the victory and became the only team to win the group stage.
Although the defending champion Italy was scored by Albania just one minute into the first game, they regrouped and scored two consecutive goals in the 11th and 16th minutes to win the final victory. Although the victory was handed over to Croatia due to an own goal in the second game, in the third game against Croatia, Mattia Zaccagni scored a super draw in the 90th+8th minute, shattering the grid army’s dream of attacking, and at the same time, with The second place in the group advances to the top 16.
As the “golden generation” enters the end of their careers, Croatia’s competitiveness is not as good as before. Although Luka Modric became the oldest goalscorer in the history of the European Cup at the age of 38, Croatia’s Roescia only scored 2 points in the group stage, ranking last among the third in each group, and had to leave sadly in the end.
Group C
Before the start of the group stage, England was regarded as the team with the lowest odds of winning the championship. The total value of the team exceeded 1 billion pounds, also ranking first. However, England did not perform correspondingly. In the first game against Serbia, they took 5 shots and one less than their opponent. Only Jude Bellingham scored the only goal of the game in the 13th minute. Despite heated discussions among fans and experts, head coach Gareth Southgate still put in the exact same lineup for the second game, and the result was a 1:1 draw with Denmark.
In the final round of Group C, England played Slovenia and Denmark played Serbia. More than 100,000 people entered the two games. The results ended in 0:0, which made many fans think that this was the first game in Group C. This is the “most boring” group in the European Cup because in all 6 games, the four teams only scored 7 goals in total, tying the record of Group C in the 2016 European Cup and becoming the first in the history of the European Cup. The group with the fewest goals in the group stage.
Denmark, second in the group, in the 17th minute of the first game, midfielder Christian Eriksen stopped the ball on his chest and volleyed with his right foot, scoring the opponent’s goal. And this goal is of great significance.
In the European Cup 3 years ago, Eriksen was about to go to the sideline to serve in the 42nd minute of the first game of the group stage, but suddenly suffered a heart attack and fell to the court. Walking before the gate of death, I almost gave up football. The goal this year happened to be the 1,100th day after Eriksen collapsed on the court. Slovenia, third in the group, also advanced to the top 16 with Denmark with 3 points.
Group D
In addition to England, the second team that everyone was most optimistic about winning before the game was definitely the French team, which has performed stably in the competition in recent years. However, there was a small country from Central Europe in Group D. After Austria lost to France due to an own goal in the first game, it quickly regrouped in the following two games.
Facing Poland, led by Lewandowski, in the second game, Austria used three goals to prove that it was not the weakling of the group. Before the third game, France, the Netherlands, and Austria were in a situation where everyone had a chance. Unexpectedly, Austria actually staged a wonderful offensive battle with the Netherlands. After taking the lead twice and being tied, Sabitzer successfully led the opponent again with a goal in the 80th minute, and finally won 3:2. Won the victory and topped the group at the same time.
After the French team narrowly defeated Austria in the first game, they drew with their opponents in the next two games. After three games, the French team unexpectedly failed to score a single goal in sports matches, relying only on the opponent’s own goals and Kylian Mbappé. ) scored two goals from a 12-yard penalty kick, and his performance was really unsatisfactory.
The Netherlands, third in the group, had a “divine arrangement” in the first game when they replaced Wout Weghorst and scored the lead goal two minutes later. In the second game, they also successfully drew with France and ended up with 4 points. points, becoming the first-ranked team in the third place in each group. Last time, the Netherlands fell to the Czech Republic in the round of 16. This time they will meet Romania. How to solve the midfield problem will be a watershed in the game.
Group E
To say that the biggest suspense of this European Cup is definitely Group E, which “all” has 4 points. Before the last round of the group stage, the four teams in Group E all had 3 points. Who It was hard to say whether they would be able to advance. Unexpectedly, both games ended in draws. With the four teams having the same points and goal difference, Romania came out on top, while Belgium and Slovakia advanced to the knockout rounds in a melee.
Romania, which staged a big surprise, has a team worth only 90 million euros. The highest value in the team and the only player worth more than 10 million is Tottenham center back Radu Drăgușin. However, it was such a team that achieved the best results in international competitions in the team’s history in the past 24 years. After easily defeating Ukraine 3:0 in the first game, although they were beaten 2:0 by Belgium in the second game, they were forced to After tying with Slovakia, they won the first place in the group with a goal difference of +1.
Belgium is no longer the “European Red Devils” it once was. In recent years, they have been out of control, and they always feel like they are “out of their depth”, even with the world’s top midfielder Kevin De Bruyne. , Belgium’s frontcourt control is still quite inefficient. Although they scored two goals in the second game, they did not score any goals in the other two games. It is not optimistic to face France in the knockout round in this state.
Group F
Portugal, with a complete lineup, had a pretty good start to this European Cup. They defeated the Czech Republic and Turkey 2:1 and 3:0 in the first two games, locking in their tickets to the top 16 early. Although they lost to Georgia in the last game, Portugal Still qualifying with 6 points and continuing to move towards the championship.
It is worth mentioning that in Portugal’s second game against Turkey, Cristiano Ronaldo got an excellent solo opportunity in the 56th minute. This was originally a great opportunity for him to advance his personal record, but he passed the ball across the ball. He scored for teammate Bruno Fernandes, a selfless moment that also surprised the fans.
Turkey, second in the group, also qualified for the round of 16 with 2 wins and 1 loss. In its first game against Georgia, the 19-year-old Real Madrid player Arda Güler, known as the “Turkish Messi” scored Shibo expanded the team’s lead, and his performance is also quite exciting.
Georgia, the new team of the European Cup, failed everyone’s expectations when it advanced to the intra-conference competition for the first time. In the second game, it drew with the Czech Republic. In the third game, they faced the powerful enemy Portugal. They scored a lightning goal in the first two minutes and finally won 2:0. Winning the first European Cup in team history, they successfully advanced to third place in the group. The opponent, Georges Mikautadze, scored three goals (including two penalty kicks) in the group stage and was a major contributor to the team’s promotion.
