Curiosity in qualification
If Ireland wants to go to the European Championships, it had better lose
October 17, 2023, 10:24 p.m
Nations League, qualification, playoffs: For many fans, the path to the 2024 European Championship is too complicated. This is particularly evident in the curious case of Ireland. In the next game against the Netherlands, the Irish would increase their chances of winning the European Championship if they lost.
UEFA’s qualification mode for the 2024 European Championship is a curiosity. As things stand, a defeat would help Ireland more than a win in their visit to the Netherlands on November 18th (8:45 p.m.). Since the Irish are already left behind in their own qualification group B and no longer have a chance of getting a ticket this direct way, their own performance in the group is irrelevant.
This doesn’t currently apply to the Dutch’s placement from an Irish perspective, 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 can qualify directly in order to take part.
The Irish would therefore prefer the Netherlands to advance (fourth) rather than a direct ticket to Greece, which finished 34th in the last Nations League season and thus ended up behind Ireland. Ireland could theoretically improve or even maintain their own chances of qualifying for the European Championship with their own defeat. However, this could be resolved through results in other games in the next European Championship qualification period, which starts on November 15th.
This time the curious calculation example will probably 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 champions France at the same time.