Posted on 06/22/2016 8:28:54 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
It was never going to be easy.
With 24 teams in the group stages at Euro 2016, that does not divide neatly into 16 qualifying for the knockout stages.
The best four third-placed teams from the six groups progress to the last 16.
So far, 12 teams have made it through: France, Switzerland, Wales, England, Slovakia, Germany, Poland, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Hungary and Northern Ireland.
BBC Sport helps explain which sides can still go through, why yellow cards could prove crucial and who is in pole position in the 'third-place table'.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Belgium seals Sweden’s fate.
“Robbie Brady For Ireland”
Well, 5 minutes of normal time, so let’s see. Wow.
1-Nil! Come On Irish!
Erin Goal Bragh! IRELAND 1-0!!!!!!!!!
Ireland needs to hang on now.
Wow, potentially all four British Isles teams go through.
This just in, Turkey declares war on Italy.
“It’s pretty disheartening to watch these games and realize that the US is still far away from being as good as any of these teams. I doubt we would even beat Iceland right now.”
You’re rarely as good as you look when you’re winning and rarely as bad as you look when you’re losing. Having said that, the US is definitely at a “low point” right now.
I don’t know how much effort Italy really put into this, they were competitive but surely, they could give more in an elimination game. Good game!
Over. Italy, Belgium, Ireland are through.
Sweden and Turkey out, and the field is set.
Think of it as a Christmas Present in June for the Irish.
I guess Italy beats Belgium based on head to head? Doesn’t Belgium have as many points and a better goal difference?
Head-to-head is the first tie-breaker. Goal differential would have only come into play if Italy and Belgium played to a tie.
Glad Copa America wasn’t like that. US wouldn’t have won its group.
Wales gets Northern Ireland, they already played England, it’s like they brought back the British Home Championships (which really needs to come back).
I think it’s stupid that Head-to-Head isn’t the first tiebreaker. I guess it does keep things more interesting, but it really isn’t fair.
Yes, it does. I’ve seen some great games (via old video tapes and YouTube) from that series. England/Scotland especially.
Yep, it’s funny though that even when England played Scotland at Wembley, the crowd was at least 70% Scottish fans.
This may be the greatest Homer call of All Time
LISTEN: Iceland commentator loses his cool
http://www.espnfc.us/european-championship/74/video/2899991/listen-iceland-commentator-loses-his-cool
It’s even better than the “DENNIS BERGKAMP! DENNIS BERGKAMP! DENNIS BERGKAMP! DENNIS BERGKAMP! AAAAAAAAAAAAGH! “ call in the ‘98 World Cup
So, the Swedes had a goal disallowed, that looked good to me.
It seems Ireland could have been given a penalty kick as well in the first half.
Also, sounds like Italy made a lot of changes for this match.
Maybe as many as 8 changes, looking at the box score of Italy vs. Sweden and today’s match vs. Ireland.
Vs. Sweden.
http://us.soccerway.com/matches/2016/06/17/europe/european-championships/italy/sweden/2024867/?ICID=PL_MS_08
So, Ireland plays France, it is so, what? To decide who would go to the 2010 World Cup, Ireland was cheated a bit in the playoffs with the Henry handball, I don’t know if something like that matters.
http://us.soccerway.com/international/europe/european-championships/2016-france/s7576/final-stages/
France is suppose to be way too strong.
I wouldn’t want to be an Italian walking around Ankara right now.
Didn’t see the Sweden game, but I’m still not sold on Belgium for some reason.
Revenge or not, still don’t like Ireland’s chances against the French.
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