Reigning European champion, Italy waited until the last moments of the qualifying phase, Monday November 20, to validate its ticket for Euro 2024, thanks to its draw against Ukraine (0-0), which allows him to breathe and avoid the stress of a treacherous dam.
A single point was enough for the Italians to qualify directly for Euro 2024 – it will be held from June 14 to July 14 in Germany – when the Ukrainians absolutely needed a victory. At the end of the match, Italy occupies second place in its group, with 14 points, six less than England (20 points), which for its part was held in North Macedonia (1-1 ).
“We are very happy: after all the difficulties we encountered, we too will be in Germany and we are going there as reigning European champions to win, to bring something homedeclared Gianluigi Donnarumma, the goalkeeper of the Squadra Azzura on the microphone of the television channel RAI-1. It was done through suffering but this group showed all its strength. »
Italy missed the 2018 World Cups in Russia and 2022 in Qatar after play-off defeats to Sweden and North Macedonia.
A late qualification
Unlike Italy, the leading nations of the European continent such as England, France, Portugal and Spain had already validated their ticket for Germany a long time ago and fought over the last two days for a place of seeded for the draw, which will be held on December 2 in Hamburg.
Monday evening, in the BayArena in Leverkusen where the supporters of the two selections gave their voice, the Italians took control of the meeting after a balanced first quarter of an hour punctuated by a great Ukrainian opportunity by Georgiy Sudakov who obliged Donnarumma on parade (14e).
But despite the increasing pressure on the Ukrainian goal, Donnarumma’s teammates were unable to take cover. The powerful strike of Nicolo Barella (16e) was repelled by Trubin, and the goalkeeper won his duel with Davide Frattesi (29e), double scorer in the first leg. Enough to worry Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon, now head of the Nazionale delegation, in the stands.
Because by failing to realize its domination, Italy scared itself, like Donnarumma’s parade at the feet of Mykhailo Mudryk (65e).
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Forced to score, Ukraine showed more pressure in the last twenty minutes, against the Italians who increased their inaccuracies and ball losses. A final cold sweat broke down the backs of the Transalpines in added time, when Mudryk collapsed in the area, but the referee did not whistle a penalty for Ukraine.
As a result of this chaotic qualification process (draw in North Macedonia and against Ukraine, double defeat against England), the Italians risk finding themselves in the bottom hat during the draw for Euro 2024.
For its part, Ukraine’s performance in this qualifying phase, including a draw against England (1-1), was insufficient, particularly against Italy (1-2 defeat in September at Milan, draw, Monday, at Leverkusen).
The men of Serhiy Rebrov, who arrived as coach in June 2023, will have to go through the play-offs in four months with two matches to win (a semi-final and a final) to qualify for their fourth European Championship after 2012, 2016 and 2021. Ukraine’s opponents will be known on Tuesday after the final qualifying matches.