Turkey defeated Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, the Czech Republic and the winner of the third play-off match in Group F, as the draw for the Euro 2024 finals was held in Hamburg, Germany, on Saturday.
Al Hilal’s stars enter the tournament as surprise winners of their qualifying group against Croatia, and will want to reverse their misfortune in the last two European Championships when they arrive with modern expectations of success.
It is possible that Portugal and Ronaldo will feel the experience here. They faced Turkey and the Czech Republic in the group stages of UEFA Euro 2008, with Switzerland the hosts.
Portugal topped the standings at the time and would be happy to do so again after sweeping the qualifiers with ten wins and ten goals from their 38-year-old star.
UEFA grants entry into the qualifiers to the third tier of member states and this group is where this team will land: Greece were Euro 2004 champions and the others, who could be Georgia, Kazakhstan or Luxembourg, will be starters in the tournament. .
In his reaction to the draw, Turkish national team coach Vincenzo Montella said that they had no preference. “What we will do at this point is study our opponents in detail.”
Regarding the similarity to the Euro 2008 draw, Montella said: “When Portugal and the Czech Republic appear in the draw, it may remind us of Euro 2008. But expectations and many things may be very different this time.”
“Turkey entered Euro 2008 from the fourth seed and we all saw what happened in the tournament. So there may be unknown, unexpected and unpredictable things here.” Montella said.
He added that every match in such major events will be decisive. He said: “In my 30 years of football and coaching experience, every match is difficult in such tournaments, and the strength differences between the teams are very small.”
Asked whether Turkey could achieve its first victory over Portugal, Montella laughed and said in Turkish: “God willing.”
Turkey are scheduled to open their European campaign on June 18 against the winner of Playoff C.
Italy meets Spain
Elsewhere, defending champions Italy are placed in the same group with Spain, while France will face the Netherlands and England will avoid any of the strongest rivals.
England’s national team, led by Gareth Southgate, will meet Slovenia, Denmark and Serbia, while Germany will face host nation Scotland in the opening match of the tournament on June 14 in Munich.
It will face Italy, which defeated England on penalties at Wembley Stadium in the final of the last European Championship in 2021, and Spain will also face Croatia and Albania in Group Two.
Spain, the winner over Italy in the 2012 European Championship final, will meet 2018 World Cup runner-up Croatia in its opening match in Berlin on June 15.
Italy were always likely to face a tough draw after being placed last based on their results in qualifying, when they qualified with a goalless draw with Ukraine in their last match.
Coach Luciano Spalletti told RAI: “When you are in the Fourth Pot, you know that you have a lot of teams in front of you, but you cannot forget that you represent Italy and you have to play every match with pride.”
The meeting between France, the 2022 World Cup runner-up, and the Netherlands will be the other heavyweight confrontation in the opening stage.
They were in the same division in both qualifiers, with France winning both ties. The two teams are in Group D alongside Austria, and the winner of the match will be Poland, Wales, Finland or Estonia.
“Ready for expectations”
In contrast, England will have few complaints about their opponents in Group C, although the world’s 19th-ranked Danes were the team to avoid from the second seed pot.
Southgate’s side, favorites to win the tournament alongside France, will face Serbia in their opening match in Gelsenkirchen on June 16.
Southgate told the BBC: “I’ve stood here after a few draws, and you always feel the same way. You can look at it on paper, but matches are not played on paper.”
“Obviously there are one or two teams you are happy to avoid, especially in Pot Three, Pot Four, but all the teams we face are more than capable.”
He added: “We have grown a lot as a team over the last few years. We are used to these big games, we are ready for the expectations and hopefully we can give our fans some great nights I think.” “We have in the last few tournaments.”
If England top their group, and France also finish first in their group, the two teams will find themselves on the same side of the draw in the knockout stage, and will be on track to meet in the semi-finals.
Scotland, which lost to Brazil in the opening match of the 1998 World Cup, will have the honor of appearing again in the opening match of the tournament when it faces Germany in the starting lineup in Group A.
Hungary and Switzerland complete this section, which could be one of the most equal.
Scotland coach Steve Clarke told the BBC: “It will be great to open the tournament, be involved in that first match, and hopefully we can start the tournament with a good match.”
Germany faces Scotland in the opening match
Germany have won the European Championship three times, a record they share with Spain, but there are major doubts about their form ahead of the tournament.
“It will be a very good start against Scotland in Munich,” Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said. “The other matches will be exciting encounters as well. It’s not a group of death, but it’s a very good group.”
Belgium plays in Group E, alongside Slovakia, Romania, and the winner of the other playoff, which will be Israel, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Ukraine.
The month-long Euro Championship, which is being held in 10 cities across Germany, will conclude with the final in Berlin on July 14.
The top two teams in each group qualify for the round of 16, along with the four best third-placed teams.
Earlier on Saturday, UEFA announced that the total prize money for competing countries would be 331 million euros ($360 million).
Each team receives €9.25 million as an initial sum and will earn up to a maximum of €28.25 million for the winner, if they win all their group stage matches.
