qualified, play-offs, disappointments… We take stock of the nations that will be present (or not) in Germany

Seven months before the start of Euro 2024, the first qualifying phase ended on Tuesday. Twenty nations have won their tickets while 12 will have to go through play-offs in March.

The qualifying phases of Euro 2024 (from June 14 to July 14) have delivered their verdict. Twenty teams – including the French team which is also guaranteed to be seeded – officially obtained their ticket, alongside Germany, the host country, at the end of the final group matches, Tuesday November 21. Three countries will also be able to qualify via play-offs, with the semi-finals of these being scheduled for March 21, and the finals for March 26.

The qualifiers: the favorites are there, Slovenia creates a surprise

To qualify directly, the rules were simple: finish in one of the first two places in your group. A challenge that the great European football nations took on without difficulty: England, France, Portugal, Spain and Belgium. Leaders of their respective groups, these five countries will be seeded in the draw, each will therefore play in a different group. On the other hand, they will be able to meet Italy in their group who won their ticket by finishing second in group C.

Alongside the reigning winner, there are nine others countries that participated in the last edition: Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Scotland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Turkey, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. But as usual, the qualifiers delivered their share of surprises. Slovenia, second in Group H behind Denmark, will participate in the second Euro in its history after that of 2000, like Albania, present for the first time in 2016. The 2024 edition will also mark the return of Romania (last appearance in 2016) and Serbia, absent since 2000, when it competed under the name Serbia-Montenegro.

The play-offs: 12 for three places

For some nations not yet qualified, all is not lost. Twelve of them will participate in play-offs (six semi-finals on March 21 and three finals on March 26), at the end of which three teams will win their ticket to the Euro. The 12 nations playing in these play-offs were selected among the best teams of the 2022-2023 Nations League (without taking into account their final ranking during qualifying for the Euro), divided into three paths.

Route C is already known. It will bring together Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece and Kazakhstan. Israel and Bosnia and Herzegovina will battle in Path B. Poland, Estonia and Wales will take their place in Path A. A draw will be made to distribute the final three teams between the bottom two paths: l Iceland, Ukraine and Finland.

The disappointment: Erling Haaland’s Norway gets through it

Norway will not be present in Germany. Third in their group, behind Spain and Scotland, and unrepachable given their result in the Nations League, Erling Haaland and his teammates failed to qualify their nation, absent from international competitions since 2000 .

A real surprise at the sight of the Norwegian collective, made up, in addition to the Manchester City star, many players playing in major European clubs like Martin Odegaard (Arsenal), Julian Ryerson (Borussia Dortmund) and Leo Ostigard (Naples). In his race for the Ballon d’Or, Erling Haaland, second in 2023 behind Lionel Messi but ahead of Kylian Mbappé, should also pay the price for this absence given the importance of performances in the selection to designate the best player in the world.