The Euro 2024 play-offs finished with Ukraine, Poland, and Georgia earning the final three spots at the finals after hard-fought battles.
Twelve teams were initially in contention, with six semi-finals on March 21st. The winners advanced to three finals on March 26th, and the victors in those games complete the 24-team EURO finals line-up.
The spots for the final three places at UEFA EURO 2024 were decided following the play-offs, with both played on March 21st and March 26th.
There were dramas as underdogs Ukraine, and Georgia shocked their respective more vigorous opponents with victories, including a shoot-out. Meanwhile, Poland edged Wales, also on penalties, to claim their ticket to Germany.
EURO 2024 play-offs results
Semi-finals (March 21st)
- Path A: Poland 5-1 Estonia, Wales 4-1 Finland
- Path B: Israel 1-4 Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-2 Ukraine
- Path C: Georgia 2-0 Luxembourg, Greece 5-0 Kazakhstan
Finals (March 26th)
- Path A: Wales 0-0 Poland (aet; Poland win 5-4 on penalties)
- Path B: Ukraine 2-1 Iceland
- Path C: Georgia 0-0 Greece (aet; Georgia win 4-2 on penalties)
Poland, Ukraine, and Georgia earned the final three spots at UEFA EURO 2024 following the play-offs.
How did the play-offs work?
The play-offs were all single-leg knockout matches. If ties were level at the end of normal time, they would go to extra time and, if required, a penalty shoot-out.
Play-offs highlights of Ukraine’s stunner against Iceland
Ukraine’s national team has earned a hard-won victory over Iceland in the decisive fixture of the Euro 2024 football play-offs. The match ended with a score of 2-1.
The teams swapped dangerous moments in the first half. 29 minutes into the match, Albert Guðmundsson swerved skilfully past Volodymyr Brazhko. He slammed the ball into the goal, where Andrii Lunin couldn’t manage a save.
Nine minutes later, Serhii Rebrov’s team equalized, but the goal was disallowed after a VAR review showed that Viktor Tsygankov was offside.
In the second half, the Ukrainian national team regained their edge. Heorhii Sudakov started a counter-attack, skilfully completed by Viktor Tsygankov, who scored a beautiful shot to equalize the score.
In the 84th minute, Heorhii Sudakov passed to Mykhailo Mudryk, who hit the bottom corner of Hákon Valdimarsson’s goal with one touch, scoring 2-1. That goal earned the Ukrainians a ticket to Euro 2024.
As the winners of Path B of the qualifying matches, Ukraine made it into Group E, along with Belgium, Slovakia, and Romania.
Germany will host the 2024 European Championship. The tournament will start on June 14th and end on July 14th. The matches will be hosted by 10 cities: Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart.
Georgia, Poland and Ukraine will sit in which groups of EURO 2024?
Celebrate for now, but all three fresh faces will be in challenging groups. Poland sit in group D with strongest contender France, while Ukraine will have to face former World’s #1 team Belgium. Georgia will have to battle 2016 winners Portugal in group F.
- Group D: Poland, Netherlands, Austria, France
- Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine
- Group F: Turkey, Georgia, Portugal, Czechia
