Thursday’s Euro 2024 play-off draw in Nyon also revealed that the winners of Wales vs Finland will then face Poland/Estonia at home in the final in bid to reach next summer’s tournament in Germany
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Sky Sports News’ Geraint Hughes reacts to Wales’ Euro 2024 qualifying draw, which will first see them face Finland at home in the semi-final.
Wales will host Finland in the European Championship play-off semi-finals in a bid to reach their fourth major tournament out of the last five.
Rob Page’s side must navigate the play-offs in March to reach the tournament in Germany next summer, with the semi-final taking place on March 21 in Cardiff following the announcement of the draw in Nyon, Switzerland.
The winners of the tie will play Poland or Estonia at home in the play-off final on March 26 for the right to play at Euro 2024.
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In Path B, Israel face a semi-final against Iceland following Thursday’s draw at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, while Bosnia and Herzegovina will host Ukraine.
Georgia take on fellow potential tournament debutants Luxembourg in Path C, while Kazakhstan travel to 2004 European champions Greece in the other semi-final of that route.
Page believes Wales have a “great opportunity” to reach Euro 2024 after being handed two possible home ties in the qualification play-offs.
Page was relieved to avoid a rematch with Ukraine, who his side beat in a play-off to qualify for last year’s World Cup, and insists Wales fear no-one in Cardiff.
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Wales manager Rob Page speaks to Sky Sports after his side drew Finland in the Euro 2024 Play-Offs and believes the Welsh fans’ will play a key part in their chances of getting through.
“We tried to forecast the draw beforehand and we weren’t too far away,” said Page, whose team could also have been paired with Iceland at the last-four stage.
“What’s important to us is that home draw in the final – we’ve got to get the job done (against Finland) first and foremost, of course we have.
“We were probably wanting to avoid Ukraine as well so I think it’s gone to plan for us.
“I don’t think any team in that group (Ukraine, Finland and Iceland) would have been wanting to play us. I was more nervous for the draw for the home tie for the final.
“The form we’re in at the minute and with the ‘Red Wall’ at home, we’ll take anyone on in Cardiff.
“It’s a great opportunity for us: we’re two wins at home away from another qualification to a major tournament. We’re hoping now for two big efforts.”
Were Finland who Wales wanted?
Image: Wales have learned their play-off semi-final opponents
Ukraine are 22nd in the FIFA rankings, six places above Wales, and would have presented the toughest test on paper.
They were third in England’s qualifying group and might already be preparing for Germany had they been awarded what appeared a certain stoppage-time penalty against Italy on Monday.
Finland won six of their 10 qualifiers and finished four points behind Denmark and Slovenia, while Iceland won only three times in 10 games and were a distant fourth to Portugal, Slovakia and Luxembourg.
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Sky Sports’ Geraint Hughes reflects on Wales’ 1-1 draw with Turkey that sees them miss out on automatic qualification for Euro 2024
Euro 2024 play-off draw in full
Play-off semi-finals
Path A
Poland vs Estonia
Wales vs Finland
Path B
Israel vs Iceland
Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Ukraine
Path C
Georgia vs Luxembourg
Greece vs Kazakhstan
Play-offs finals
Path A: Wales/Finland vs Poland/Estonia
Path B: Bosnia-Herzegovina/Ukraine vs Israel/Iceland
Path C: Georgia/Luxembourg vs Greece/Kazakhstan
Wales had automatic qualification in their hands heading into the final two games, but ultimately fell short with closing 1-1 draws against Armenia and Turkey. Croatia and Turkey qualified as the top two in Group D.
It has been a campaign of transition without talismanic captain Gareth Bale following his retirement in January and the loss of other key players such as midfielder Joe Allen.
Wales began well with a bonus point away to World Cup semi-finalists Croatia – courtesy of Nathan Broadhead’s stoppage-time equaliser – and a narrow home win over Latvia.
But a sour summer – back-to-beat defeats against Armenia and Turkey – would cost them dear, despite bouncing back with a 2-0 success in Latvia and a sensational 2-1 home victory over Croatia.
Wales will have home advantage for the semi-final, which will be played at Cardiff City Stadium.
That is a huge boost for Wales who have had some special nights in Cardiff in recent times, and beat both Austria and Ukraine there in the 2022 World Cup play-offs.
Wales enter the play-offs with confidence after an unbeaten six-game run of three wins and three draws.
Analysis: Dream draw for Wales
Image: Rob Page will be delighted two home games stand in the way of a Euro 2024 spot
Sky Sports News’ senior reporter Geraint Hughes:
“This couldn’t have worked out better for Wales in terms of the play-off draw. Being at home in the semi-finals they knew as a result of their successes over the years in the Nations League campaigns, and generally in UEFA competitions.
“We’ve learned today that it’ll be Finland and Wales will be happy with that. They did pretty well against them in the last World Cup qualifying campaign.
“It then emerged they would face the winners of Poland or Estonia. And it will be a home game again if they were to beat Finland.
“If you’re going on the form book, you would imagine it’ll be Poland. Wales’ record in competitive matches at home has been phenomenal.
“They lost to Armenia, but you have to go a long way back to find the previous competitive home defeat at home and you can expect another well-out crowd, the Red Wall.
“Wales will have the proverbial 12th man out on the pitch. You take the disappointment of the past two games, but Page will have difficulty concealing his smile today after the draw.”
Wales exactly where they thought they’d be post-Bale
Eight matches over eight months, but the job to reach Euro 2024 goes on. Gruelling and energy-sapping at times, yet there’s no time to dwell on what might have been. ‘What could still be’ is the task ahead.
Wales boss Rob Page will next week get his coaches and staff together as they plan for March’s play-off semi-final. The Wales boss has already made it clear that’s happening. Before then Page barely rests, less than an hour after full-time on Tuesday night he was anxious to keep going, keep on the move, keep the momentum.
Read Geraint Hughes’ latest Wales reporter notebook
Euro 2024: Who’s qualified and when is it?
In total, 24 teams will qualify through the results of the European Qualifiers which run until November 2023, and via play-offs scheduled for March 2024.
21 of the 24 teams are now known, with only the three teams to progress from the play-offs still to be determined.
When is the group-stage draw?
With the automatic qualifiers finishing in November, the Euro 2024 group-stage draw will be made on Saturday December 2 in Hamburg at 5pm GMT.
Who will be in which Pot for the draw?
For the draw, there will be four pots of six teams.
England will be in Pot One along with hosts Germany, Portugal, France, Spain and Belgium.
Pot Two will comprise Hungary, Turkey, Denmark, Albania, Romania and Austria.
Scotland will be in Pot Three alongside Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Croatia.
Defending champions Italy will be in Pot 4 alongside Serbia and Switzerland, and the three-play-off winners, which could be Wales.
When is Euro 2024?
Euro 2024 will take place from June 14 to July 14 2024.
The draw for the tournament will be in Hamburg on Saturday December 2.
As the host nation, Germany are seeded in Group A and will occupy position A1, meaning they will play in the opening match in Munich, at the Allianz Arena on Friday June 14.
Where and when will the final be played?
Image: The Olympiastadion in Berlin will host the Euro 2024 final
The final will take place at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on Sunday July 14.
What are the host cities?
Image: Allianz Arena in Munich will host the first game of the tournament
The 10 host venues are as follows:
- Berlin – Olympiastadion Berlin
- Cologne – Cologne Stadium (RheinEnergieSTADION)
- Dortmund – BVB Stadion Dortmund (Signal Iduna Park)
- Dusseldorf – Dusseldorf Arena (MERKUR SPIEL-ARENA)
- Frankfurt – Frankfurt Arena (Deutsche Bank Park)
- Gelsenkirchen – Arena AufSchalke (Veltins-Arena)
- Hamburg – Volksparkstadion Hamburg
- Leipzig – Leipzig Stadium (Red Bull Arena)
- Munich – Munich Football Arena (Allianz Arena)
- Stuttgart – Stuttgart Arena (MHPArena)
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How can I buy tickets?
Ticket applications for Euro 2024 opened on October 3 through the tournament’s official website. The initial window closed on October 26, with fans then contacted if they had been successful.
There will be other opportunities to buy tickets as teams confirm their places at the tournament, including through the play-offs next year. There will also be a resale platform that opens in Spring 2024.
UEFA have said that more than 80 per cent of the 2.7 million tickets available will be for the fans of the participating teams and the general public.
Group-stage prices range from €30 (£26) to €200 (£174), increasing in price with each round. Tickets for the final range from €95 (£83) to €1,000 (£870).
What is the tournament format?
The format will be the same as for Euro 2020.
The top two teams from each of the six final tournament groups will proceed to the round of 16 along with the four best third-placed finishers.
The quarter-finals and semi-finals follow before the Euro 2024 winner will be crowned in Berlin on July 14.
The final tournament draw is due to take place on December 2 in Hamburg.
Image: Albärt is the mascot for Euro 2024
The Group Stages
June 14
Germany (A1) vs A2 (Munich)
June 15
B1 vs B2 (Berlin)
B3 vs B4 (Dortmund)
A3 vs A4 (Cologne)
June 16
C3 vs C4 (Gelsenkirchen)
D1 vs D2 (Hamburg)
C1 vs C2 (Stuttgart)
June 17
D3 vs D4 (Dusseldorf)
E1 vs E2 (Frankfurt)
E3 vs E4 (Munich)
June 18
F3 vs F4 (Leipzig)
F1 vs F2 (Dortmund)
June 19
B2 vs B4 (Hamburg)
A2 vs A4 (Cologne)
Germany (A1) vs A3 (Stuttgart)
June 20
B1 vs B3 (Gelsenkirchen)
C2 vs C4 (Frankfurt)
C1 vs C3 (Munich)
June 21
D1 vs D3 (Berlin)
D2 vs D4 (Leipzig)
E2 vs E4 (Dusseldorf)
June 22
F2 vs F4 (Hamburg)
F1 vs F3 (Dortmund)
E1 vs E3 (Cologne)
June 23
A4 vs Germany (A1) (Frankfurt)
A2 vs A3 (Stuttgart)
June 24
B2 vs B3 (Leipzig)
B4 vs B1 (Dusseldorf)
June 25
D2 vs D3 (Berlin)
D4 vs D1 (Dortmund)
C4 vs C1 (Cologne)
C2 vs C3 (Munich)
June 26
F4 vs F1 (Hamburg)
F2 vs F3 (Gelsenkirchen)
E2 vs E3 (Frankfurt)
E4 vs E1 (Stuttgart)
Rest days on June 27 and 28
Round of 16
June 29
37 1A vs 2C (Dortmund)
38 2A vs 2B (Berlin)
June 30
39 1B vs 3A/D/E/F (Cologne)
40 1C vs 3D/E/F (Gelsenkirchen)
July 1
41 1F vs 3A/B/C (Frankfurt)
42 2D vs 2E (Düsseldorf)
July 2
43 1E vs 3A/B/C/D (Munich)
44 1D vs 2F (Leipzig)
Rest days on 3 and 4 July
Quarter-finals
July 5
45 W39 vs W37 (Stuttgart)
46 W41 vs W42 (Hamburg)
July 6
47 W43 vs W44 (Berlin)
48 W40 vs W38 (Dusseldorf)
Rest days on 7 and 8 July
The semi-finals
July 9
49 W45 vs W46 (Munich, 8pm)
July 10
50 W47 vs W48 (Dortmund, 8pm)
Rest days on July 11, 12 and 13
The final
July 14
W49 vs W50 (Berlin, 8pm)
Euro 2024 key dates
Remaining qualifying dates
March 21, 2024: play-off semi-finals
March 26, 2024: play-off finals
Final tournament
December 2, 2023: Euro 2024 draw, Hamburg
June 14, 2024: Euro 2024 opening game, Munich Football Arena (Allianz Arena)
June 30 – July 2: Round of 16
July 5-6: Quarter-finals
July 9-10, 2024: Semi-finals
July 14, 2024: Euro 2024 final, Olympiastadion Berlin
Sourse: skysports.com
