Euro 2024 qualifying starts today
Eight matches in groups C, H and J of the qualifying round will begin today, with strong teams like England, Italy or Portugal. England and Italy recreated the Euro 2021 final, when the two teams met at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples in Group C. At the same time, North Macedonia took on Malta in the other match of this group.
England and Italy are two bright candidates to continue in Group C, but Ukraine and North Macedonia can also surprise. It was North Macedonia that eliminated Italy in the 2022 World Cup, causing Roberto Mancini's teachers and students to miss the World Cup appointment. However, they no longer have striker Goran Pandev because he has retired.
He was determined to win the opening match, to avoid falling into a difficult position, and at the same time to break 62 years without winning in Italy. The host still has more than one door to continue because it has entered the UEFA Nations League final. If not in the top two places of Group C, Italy will still participate in the pick-up round to select the last three places to attend the Euro finals.
The last two times England and Italy have met was in the Nations League group stage. Mancini's teachers and students drew 0-0 in England, then won 1-0 at San Siro. Due to the bottom of the table, Gareth Southgate's teachers and students had to be relegated to the B Nations League.
He only has one player who has never played for the national team, Ivan Toney, when striker Brentford was called up despite a football betting scandal. He is most likely just a substitute for captain Harry Kane - the player who will break the scoring record for England if he concedes Italy.
In Group J, the former Portuguese king also played against the 198th ranked team Liechtenstein in Lisbon. Liechtenstein is the sixth smallest country in the world, but drew Portugal 2-2 in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. But Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates are still expected to win 7-0 in the first match, according to Sportsmole's predictions. .
Before the match, away goalkeeper Justin Ospelt also said that he and his teammates will compete for Ronaldo's shirt at the end of the game. "Let's see which of us will win this competition," said the Liechtenstein goalkeeper.
In the pre-match press conference, coach Roberto Martinez announced that Ronaldo, goalkeeper Rui Patricio and midfielder Bernardo Silva will be members of the team's staff, based on seniority and experience. Ronaldo also captained Portugal in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup, but had to be substituted in the two knockout rounds. At that time, vice-captain Pepe replaced him with the captain's armband, but this time the 40-year-old central defender was injured and had to withdraw.
Ronaldo will monopolize the record of playing 197 matches for a national team, if he plays against Liechtenstein. He is sharing this record with striker Bader Al Mutawa (Kuwait). Mutawa also still has the opportunity to improve his performance when he is gathering with Kuwait to prepare for two friendly matches.
In the remaining two matches in Group J, Bosnia & Herzegovina takes on Iceland in Zeneca, and Luxembourg plays in Slovakia. Bosnia with striker captain Edin Dzeko is considered the biggest challenge for Portugal in the competition for the top spot.
Group H also kicks off tonight with the match between the two most highly rated teams Denmark and Finland in Copenhagen. Northern Ireland hosts in San Marino, while Kazakhstan hosts Slovenia in Astana.
Euro qualifying takes place from 23/3/2023 to 26/3/2024, including 53 teams divided into 10 groups, seven groups of five teams and three groups of six teams. The teams play in a round-robin round-robin for two rounds in the group, choosing the top two teams in each group to advance to the final round with host Germany. The remaining three spots are selected based on the pick-up round between the teams performing well in the UEFA Nations League 2022-2023. The final round will include 24 teams, competing from June 14 to July 14, 2024.
