In the fight for the last three starting places for the 2024 European Championship in Germany, Wales will face Finland in the playoffs and Israel will face Iceland.
This was the result of the draw on Thursday (November 23rd, 2023) in Nyon. Steffen Freund, European champion with Germany in 1996, drew the lots.
It was already clear that Poland would meet Estonia in the first of the three qualifying tournaments (Path A). The winner will then face the winner of the game between Wales and Finland in the final.
In path B, the winner of the semi-final duel between Israel and Iceland will face Bosnia-Herzegovina or Ukraine. The pairings in path C were already known before the draw: Georgia meets Luxembourg and Greece meets Kazakhstan.
Final home right was also drawn
A draw was also made to determine who could host the finals. In path A it is the winner of the semi-final between Wales and Finland, in path B it is Bosnia-Herzegovina or Ukraine, in path C it is Georgia or Luxembourg.
The last of the 24 starting places at the European Championships will be awarded in the three tournaments. The tournaments each consist of semi-finals and a subsequent final – the winner gets to compete at the EURO in Germany.
The tournaments take place in the international match window at the end of March. The six semi-finals will take place on March 21, 2024, and the three finals will take place on March 26, 2024.
Playoff winner in draw pot 4
All playoff winners will be in draw pot 4 at the European Championship draw on December 2nd in Hamburg, even if they would have reached a different pot if they had qualified directly.
Playoffs have often taken place in qualifying for European or World Championships. Since the 2021 European Championship, the results of the Nations League have been used to determine the playoffs.