The second round of qualifying for the Euro 2024 tournament began this week, and a number of teams are currently in a position to clinch their spot in the tournament. The tournament will be held in Germany. The tournament consisted of two rounds of matches that were played over a span of six days, beginning on October 12 and ending on October 17.
Portugal is doing wonderfully, while France is getting closer.
Roberto Martinez’s tenure as Portugal’s head coach has gotten off to a smooth start as he has saw his team rack up 24 goals in Group J while not receiving a single goal in return. Should they beat Slovakia on Friday and make it seven wins in a row, they would have secured the championship with three matches to spare.
France is in a comparable position, having won their last five matches in a row in Group B. They can secure their spot in Germany by claiming another victory over the Netherlands or by playing to a draw if Greece is victorious in Dublin.
In a matchup between the top two teams in Group F, Belgium travels to Austria. Both sides tied for points in Brussels back in June, so a victory for either squad on Friday in Vienna would put the winner in position to go to the championship round.
A congested situation at the top of Group H
Four teams tied for first place in Group H are separated by just one point; among them is Kazakhstan, an underdog that is attempting to surprise everyone by qualifying for their first major tournament.
Kazakhstan is tied with Finland on 12 points; both teams are one point behind Denmark and Slovenia, who lead the section in terms of goals scored. Kazakhstan is guaranteed a berth in the play-offs at the very least.
The top two spots in the standings might not be decided until after the following two matchdays. On Saturday, Denmark will play host to Kazakhstan, and Slovenia will entertain Finland in their respective homes.
Denmark will almost certainly prevail over San Marino, a team that has finished in last place in all but one of the 82 previous Euro qualifying matches. Kazakhstan will then play in Finland three days later. Slovenia will travel to Northern Ireland.
Israel has put their application on hold due to the violence.
Due to the commencement of violence between Israel and Hamas, UEFA decided to postpone Thursday’s match in Tel Aviv against Switzerland, who are now in first place in Group I.
The officials are still determining whether or not Israel’s game that is set to take place in Kosovo on Sunday can go on as planned.
The devastating assault that was conducted by Hamas militants on Saturday has left at least 1,200 people dead, making it the worst strike in Israel throughout its entire 75-year history. Israel is in a state of shock as a result of the attack, which was started on Saturday.
Israel has carried out retaliatory air attacks and shelling against the densely populated territory of Gaza. As a result, 1,055 people have been murdered in Gaza.
Wembley will play host to the final repeat between England and Italy.
The team led by Gareth Southgate in England currently leads Group C by six points, while the defending world champions Italy still have a game to play against all of the other teams.
When England kicked off their qualifying campaign for Euro 2020 with a 2-1 victory in Naples in March, they got some measure of revenge for their loss on penalties to Italy in the championship game of Euro 2020.
Italy is tied with Ukraine and North Macedonia for the same number of points. On Saturday, Italy will play host to Malta in a match between the two countries.
After Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup in each of the previous two cycles, Luciano Spalletti started his term as Italy’s head coach with a draw in North Macedonia a month ago, but a victory over Ukraine allayed worries of another dismal qualifying campaign.
If England were to pick up another victory on the following Tuesday, they would effectively clinch first position in the group far in advance of the conclusion of the qualifying rounds in November.