Group F: Turkey, Georgia, Portugal, Czech Republic

[Bohemian Toffee]

I reckon Turkey might do Portugal

Hope they both lose.

 

[the golden visionary]

Hope they both lose.

That's nice

 

[Drico]

I reckon Turkey might do Portugal

I hope they do. No time for Turkiye or whatever Erdogan wants us to call them now, though.

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

Yeah, I still hanker for the 8-team Euros where pretty much every team had to go through fire and brimstone to qualify. That said, 16 was probably the sweet spot in terms of quality and marketing.

Now, we've just got a Frankenstein's monster of a format. Too much dross diluting the quality.

I wouldn’t class anyone as “dross” in this final 24

But then I’m not snobby about this stuff whilst I know others are

 

[Drico]

I wouldn’t class anyone as “dross” in this final 24

But then I’m not snobby about this stuff whilst I know others are

There's plenty of dross here - and it's not snobbery to point that out.

By definition, 8 teams are here for money reasons. We had a qualification competition to thin the herd in the past. Now, the money men have decided that the qualification competition needed to happen in the same summer as the finals tournament, so we get this abomination where we spend a fortnight playing 36 matches to eliminate 8 sides. Ker-ching!

 

[LinekersLegs]

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

There's plenty of dross here - and it's not snobbery to point that out.

By definition, 8 teams are here for money reasons. We had a qualification competition to thin the herd in the past. Now, the money men have decided that the qualification competition needed to happen in the same summer as the finals tournament, so we get this abomination where we spend a fortnight playing 36 matches to eliminate 8 sides. Ker-ching!

It’s 1000% snobbery

Oh dear, the “lesser” nations get a go to. Heaven forfend!

I like it being 24 teams

Gives more people a chance to see their nation at a major finals

More colour and flavour

Nothing more boring to me than just the “top” nations playing one another

The group stage is always the best bit for me

 

[heatmeiser]

Danny Murphy and Alan Smith have been absolutely stealing a living on comms for years.

 

[Drico]

I like it being 24 teams

Gives more people a chance to see their nation at a major finals

More colour and flavour

Nothing more boring to me than just the “top” nations playing one another

The group stage is always the best bit for me

And all of that is fine. I'm happy you like it. Genuinely.

But that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of very mediocre sides here who offer nothing more than more matches, more colour, and more money. The Scottish fans were marvelous on Friday, but their team stinks.

A 24-team format is a farce. It takes too much jeopardy from the group stage - which was genuinely incredible when we had 16 sides, which is a better number for tournament structure and about the number of quality sides the European continent tends to support at any one point in time.

But hey, it is what it is. We'll still enjoy it.

 

[Drico]

UEFA will be thrilled with the results. The wins for their main money markets Germany, France, Italy, England, Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal means every one of their main markets will be represented in the second phase, barring miraculous events.

And that is why we have 24 teams: to reduce the jeopardy for the big boys (while masquerading as missionaries of the game, spreading the gospel to smaller, peripheral nations, and making more money from more teams and more matches which used to be qualifiers).

 

[tantavisiteler]

A lot of help for POR there. High kick at 81' was missed and then the clear foul before POR's second

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

And all of that is fine. I'm happy you like it. Genuinely.

But that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of very mediocre sides here who offer nothing more than more matches, more colour, and more money. The Scottish fans were marvelous on Friday, but their team stinks.

A 24-team format is a farce. It takes too much jeopardy from the group stage - which was genuinely incredible when we had 16 sides, which is a better number for tournament structure and about the number of quality sides the European continent tends to support at any one point in time.

But hey, it is what it is. We'll still enjoy it.

These teams aren’t mediocre

They’re just not

One team has been pumped thus far

One

And they were down to ten men at half time

The level of competency across uefa is very impressive, more than enough to justify a 24 team tournament

A lot of these third places are likely going to be pretty close too, so there’s still plenty of jeopardy and the chances of dead rubbers are considerably reduced, which will make the last round of games all the more exciting

 

[carlos21]

Who is playing tomorrow guys please.

 

[Thomasc]

Who is playing tomorrow guys please.

Scotland v Switzerland
Germany v Hungary
Albania v Croatia

 

[Martin Alvito]

I like it being 24 teams

Gives more people a chance to see their nation at a major finals

More colour and flavour

Nothing more boring to me than just the “top” nations playing one another

The group stage is always the best bit for me

Morocco just made a World Cup semifinal. The sides rotate with the quality for the big tournaments, the Copa America notwithstanding, and that's a hard one for CONMEBOL to fix.

Italy sandwiched a Euro win in between two missed World Cups. Four reigning continental champions failed to qualify in 2018. I didn't much enjoy us being at home, but I enjoyed the tournament anyway.

I would rather see the sides that are in form at the moment play in major internationals, and I would rather see the final round group stage brawls that 16 and 32 teams produce. I didn't like 24 teams at the World Cup, and I can't say I'm thrilled UEFA decided to turn back the clock.

You are of course entitled to enjoy the extra helping of group stage and knockout games. UEFA (and FIFA) didn't expand their tournaments and expect everyone to hate it.