Curious calculation game for European Championship qualification: UEFA trusts in Ireland’s integrity

Better chance if you lose

The Irish national team could theoretically improve their starting position for a European Championship ticket if they lose against the Netherlands on November 18th (8:45 p.m.). Although the probability of an Orange victory is significantly higher, the European Football Union emphasized that it is relying on the Irish to be fair. She rejected criticism of the qualification mode for the 2024 European Championship. “No competition format is watertight in this respect. “The incident mentioned is statistically very unlikely and we have no doubts about the sporting integrity of the Irish team,” UEFA wrote on request on Thursday, according to the “German Press Agency”.

The Irish no longer have a chance of direct qualification in qualifying group B. Your own final ranking is therefore basically irrelevant. From an Irish perspective, this does not currently apply to the Dutch’s performance, because: The three remaining tickets after the actual qualification will be played in three small tournaments next spring. Admission for this is based on placement in the previous Nations League season. Ireland itself came in 26th place and has to hope that enough nations, including the Netherlands, make direct qualification beforehand in order to take part.

In the first meeting, Adam Idah from Norwich City gave the Irish an early lead with a penalty, which Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo was also able to equalize early in the game and again with a penalty. In the second half, Hoffenheim striker Wout Weghorst scored the 2-1 winner in the Dublin Stadium.

The curious calculation example is likely to remain theoretical in nature: The Netherlands and Greece are tied on points before the November games (twelve points). However, the Netherlands won the direct comparison, playing one more game and, in addition to the home game against Ireland, also a guest game against football dwarf Gibraltar (November 21st). Greece, on the other hand, is hosting runner-up world champion France at the same time and overall has significantly worse chances of qualifying in the group in which the French are the first team to have already secured their ticket to the European Championship finals.

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