Which round of 16 pairings are already fixed and how will the top four third-placed teams be decided? We explain how the European Championship tournament tree is put together.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The last four group matches of the European Championship tournament are on the program on Wednesday, before the round of 16 gets into the hot phase.
- Only two of the eight round of 16 pairings have been decided so far: Switzerland will face Italy and Denmark will challenge Germany. The fact that six matches have not yet been finalized is due to the complex format.
- How are the four best third-placed teams assigned in the tournament tree and what variants are there? blue Sport explains the initial situation.
Four games are still on the program at the European Championship in Germany on Wednesday before the group stage is completed and the tournament enters the hot knockout phase for a total of 16 nations. The remaining 8 teams, however, have to return home. For Poland, Croatia, Albania, Scotland and Serbia, the European Championship adventure is definitely over before the final group matches.
However, it remains to be seen what will happen in the round of 16 for many of the qualified teams. Only two matches have been decided: Switzerland face Italy and Denmark take on hosts Germany. The reason for the still open tournament tree is the complex mode, which stipulates that the four best third-placed teams in the group also make it through to the first knockout round.
So far, these include the Netherlands and Slovenia, who can no longer be ousted from the top four in the third-placed table. Which third-placed teams secure the last two round of 16 tickets, however, will only be decided in the final preliminary round matches on Wednesday evening.
3 scenarios remain
As long as not all third-placed teams have been decided, the round of 16 pairings remain open. This is because the third-placed teams will each be assigned to a group winner based on a key determined before the tournament. The decisive factor here is which of the six groups the four qualified third-placed players come from.
For this reason, there were a total of 15 different constellations at the start of the tournament for the allocation of the four best third-placed teams in the round of 16. There are now "only" three possible variants, as Slovenia (Group C) and the Netherlands (Group D) will definitely progress as third-placed teams - and Croatia (Group B) is definitely not one of the best four third-placed teams and has been eliminated.
Option 1
If, in addition to Slovenia (Group C) and the Netherlands (Group D), Hungary (Group A) and the third-placed team in Group E qualify for the round of 16, the following pairings will be made:
England - Netherlands
Portugal - Hungary
Spain - third in Group E
Winner of Group E - Slovenia
Variant 2
If, in addition to Slovenia (Group C) and the Netherlands (Group D), the third-placed team in Group E and the third-placed team in Group F also qualify, these matches will take place:
Portugal - Slovenia
Spain - third place in Group F
England - third place in Group E
Winner of Group E - Netherlands
Variant 3
If, in addition to Slovenia (Group C) and the Netherlands (Group D), Hungary (Group A) and the third-placed team in Group F also qualify, the corresponding round of 16 matches will be as follows:
England - Netherlands
Portugal - Hungary
Spain - third in Group F
Winner of Group E - Slovenia
The possible European Championship round of 16 at a glance
If the nations in Groups E and F retain their current rankings and option 1 applies (third-placed teams from Groups A, C, D and E qualify), the tournament tree would look as follows:
