Belgium was stunned in its opening game of the 2024 European Championship when it suffered a 0-1 defeat to Slovakia at the Frankfurt Arena on June 17.
However, the Red Devils redeemed themselves with a 2-0 win over Romania and remains in the race for the round of 16, with the final matchday deciding the qualified teams from this group, in Germany.
“We are going out to win the game. We can’t start to calculate or speculate, we want to win this game. In the last seven minutes of the game maybe we know what we want to do to keep a result but from the beginning there is no issue, we go to win,” Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco told reporters in the pre-match press conference.
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“Not smart from our side not to know it but not from the beginning... We have to focus on our game and then the result is coming automatically,” he added, explaining that the team will also keep an eye on the other Group E fixture.
How can Belgium qualify for the round of 16?
Belgium plays Ukraine, which beat Slovakia 2-1 in its previous match, in its final matchday and following are the scenarios for the Red Devils to progress:
Scenario 1: Belgium wins
Belgium will qualify for the round of 16 irrespective of what happens in the other match.
Scenario 2: Belgium draws and Romania/Slovakia win the other match
Belgium will go to four points and will qualify as a second-placed team, as it will have a higher goal difference over Ukraine while the winner of the other match will qualify as the group-topper.
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Scenario 3: Belgium and Romania draw in their respective matches
If both matches have the same score, or if the game between Belgium and Ukraine is a draw with fewer goals than the one between Slovakia vs Romania, the group ranking would be based on goal difference and goals scored.
That would be done as follows:
- Romania
- Belgium
- Slovakia
- Ukraine
If both draws have different scorelines, the following scenarios are anticipated:
If the match between Slovakia and Romania ends as a goalless draw and the one between Belgium and Ukraine ends 1-1 or or any permutation where Belgium scores only one more goal than Romania in its draw, Belgium and Romania would finish as the top two teams from Group E, equal on goal difference and goals scored.
In that case, the head-to-head criteria is reapplied exclusively to those two teams, which would keep Belgium ahead as it beat Romania 2-0.
Slovakia would be third and Ukraine fourth on goal difference.
Scenario 4: Belgium loses and Romania draws with/beats Slovakia: Belgium is out
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