Euro 2020 Finals

[velo army 980]

On 30/11/2019 at 18:21, RussellV1 said:

Croatia v Serbia in Glasgow potentially 😬 

Fuckin NOOOOOOOPE!!!!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSS!!!

(aye, still hefty buzzin)

[Classick 5]

2 hours ago, HibeeJibee said:

Interesting to note Hungary won Division A playoff. They were actually 2nd-worst runner-up in Division C and were drawn to fill unoccupied places in the higher contest (alongside Bulgaria and Romania - Israel were drawn to fill unoccupied place in Division C). Iceland who they beat in Final were only Division A nation involved... Perhaps not always best to be in a higher level.

This qualification system is unfair. Excellent result for Hungary, they deserved to qualify. Division B and Division C were tough too (Serbia, Ireland, Norway, Romania etc.), but Division D playoffs (Georgia, Belarus etc)  were a joke, other national teams deserved qualification more than North Macedonia

[HibeeJibee 8,662]

27 minutes ago, Classick said:

This qualification system is unfair. Excellent result for Hungary, they deserved to qualify. Division B and Division C were tough too (Serbia, Ireland, Norway, Romania etc.), but Division D playoffs (Georgia, Belarus etc)  were a joke, other national teams deserved qualification more than North Macedonia

Ultimately it was part of what UEFA had to do to get widespread buy-in for the whole Nations League concept. There will be other people looking at Scotland qualifying from Division C and saying "WTF?".

Plus an anomaly is Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovakia and the Irelands from Division B had to fight for 1 place... while 7 teams from Division C + Iceland fought for 2 places.


However for WC 2022 only 2 best pool winners in NL - not among 10 teams to have automatically qualified - will go into 2-stage playoffs, with 10 runners-up from qualifying.

So instead of best 20 nations having already qualified and 16 more from NL contesting playoffs it's only 10 and 2 respectively.

Then for Euro 2024 there are only 23 slots (France need 1 as hosts) so Division D loses its own playoff, and perhaps the best its pool winner can hope for is to fill an occupied place higher.

That said having increased Division A & B pools from 3 teams to 4 the quality in B and particularly C will have reduced versus now.

Edited November 13, 2020 by HibeeJibee

[Brummie Clyde 264]

I like the Nations League and think that it gives teams something to play for. Particularly teams like San Marino and Gibraltar, who can actually try to win the odd game.

However, when it comes to the qualification process, it does remind me of Numberwang.

[Dunning1874 10,859]

On 30/11/2019 at 18:21, RussellV1 said:

Croatia v Serbia in Glasgow potentially 😬 

Am I glad we qualified? Obviously.

Is there a part of me that was looking forward to Croatia and Serbia fans congregating in Glasgow and is now disappointed we won't see their reaction to someone using a drone to fly a flag of Greater Albania over George Square? Obviously.

Edited November 14, 2020 by Dunning1874

[Donathan 805]

Some talk in the Daily Mail that the UK are being lined up as an emergency host if covid puts paid to holding games across the continent.


Makes sense. Put group A in Wales (Wales games at the Principality stadium and other games in Swansea), keep our group at Hampden/Wembley. Another group in Scotland (Celtic Park and Ibrox), then the other 4 groups could be played in England:

One in the North-West (Old Trafford and Anfield)

One in the North-East (Stadium of light and St James’s park)

One in the Midlands (Villa Park and Ricoh arena)

One in the South (Twickenham and Tottenham Stadium)

Then have the QF’s at Wembley/Hampden/Cardiff/Manchester (all other venues get a R16 game)

SF and F at Wembley as planned.

[HibeeJibee 8,662]

Award it to 3 different FAs none of whom has organised a finals in 25yrs with 3 different governments (of 3 different parties) and 3 devolved public health responses?

No doubt possible but recent reports of Russia equally plausible: single FA and government of strong centralised authority who ran a WC only 3yrs prior.

I guess media across Europe are all touting their nations.

[GNU_Linux 2,256]

Am I glad we qualified? Obviously.
Is there a part of me that was looking forward to Croatia and Serbia fans congregating in Glasgow and is now disappointed we won't see their reaction to someone using a drone to fly a flag of Greater Albania over George Square? Obviously.

12 Ruel Street bring yer babushka.

[highlandcowden 475]

On ‎13‎/‎11‎/‎2020 at 21:03, Classick said:

This qualification system is unfair. Excellent result for Hungary, they deserved to qualify. Division B and Division C were tough too (Serbia, Ireland, Norway, Romania etc.), but Division D playoffs (Georgia, Belarus etc)  were a joke, other national teams deserved qualification more than North Macedonia

[Bully Wee Villa 8,890]

Tournament predictor here.

Was amazed at who I ended up choosing as winner...

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by Bully Wee Villa

[realmadrid 645]

When should this get postponed or abandoned?

[charger29 201]

When should this get postponed or abandoned?

The UEFA executive committee meets in March so maybe some clarity around then.
Don't see how it could be postponed. There's nowhere to fit it in. Given there's probably a low chance of fans attending they may as well just play it in one or two countries.

I think UEFA reps are meant to be visiting the host countries in the next few months to make sure everything is up to scratch.

[realmadrid 645]

2 minutes ago, charger29 said:

The UEFA executive committee meets in March so maybe some clarity around then.
Don't see how it could be postponed. There's no where to fit it in. Given there's probably a low chance of fans attending they may as well just play it in one or two countries.
I think UEFA reps are meant to be visiting the host countries in the next few months to make sure everything is up to scratch.

I certainly cannot see it going ahead in the original format. 

if its to be no fans, lets just knock it on the head and then that gives the domestic leagues a bit more time should things get worse in the next few months. Possibly play the March World Cup qualifiers in the summer.

[charger29 201]

I certainly cannot see it going ahead in the original format. 
if its to be no fans, lets just knock it on the head and then that gives the domestic leagues a bit more time should things get worse in the next few months. Possibly play the March World Cup qualifiers in the summer.

If they're still flying thosands of people around Europe in February, March, April & May for the CL & EL then they'll find a way for the Euro's to go ahead too. Money talks.

[stuart87 144]

Reckon I’ve got blinkers on cos I’ve got tickets to the Hampden games but things will surely be much better by June. It’s still 5 months away. In much of June last year, there were less than 100 deaths a day across the whole of the UK and that was without a vaccine. I’d expect it to be a lot better this year.

[yogisbairns 77]

I’m praying it goes ahead with fans. Have managed to get a final ticket for the Sunday night. The night before, Pearl Jam at Hyde Park. Carlsberg don’t do ultimate weekends, but if they did.....

[realmadrid 645]

On 11/01/2021 at 00:15, yogisbairns said:

I’m praying it goes ahead with fans. Have managed to get a final ticket for the Sunday night. The night before, Pearl Jam at Hyde Park. Carlsberg don’t do ultimate weekends, but if they did.....

They have changed the terms and conditions today, get ready for reduced capacity or empty stadiums

https://support.tickets-euro2020.uefa.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018894819-Changes-to-the-Terms-Conditions-Refund-Policy-and-Privacy-Notification

• Reduction of stadium capacity: the Refund Policy now covers situations in which a reduction of stadium capacity may occur, after the sales of tickets have taken place. If UEFA notifies the ticket buyer that their tickets are not valid following a reduction of stadium capacity, the ticket buyer will receive a refund of an amount equal to the face value of the ticket(s).

• Match played behind closed doors: the Refund Policy now covers situations in which a match may be played behind closed doors (i.e.: spectators are not permitted to attend the match), after the sales of tickets have taken place. If UEFA notifies the ticket buyer that their tickets are not valid due to the match being played behind closed doors, the ticket buyer will receive a refund of an amount equal to the face value of the ticket(s).  

 

[Donathan 805]

BeIn reporting that UEFA are now leaning towards moving the tournament to one country with England as the strong favourite.

[Marten 2,904]

Might as well make it a British Isles tournament in that case, Wembley, Hampden & Landsdowne Road can just stay as venues. Include Windsor Park & the Millenium Stadium to have all nations included and there are plenty of other grounds to choose from to have enough.

[Lyle Lanley 4,523]

1 hour ago, Donathan said:

BeIn reporting that UEFA are now leaning towards moving the tournament to one country with England as the strong favourite.

Wonder how that will work for ticket sales.