European Championship pots and playoff paths almost complete
According to Mats Hummels, he has "not given a second thought" to the national soccer team's potential opponents in the European Championship.
Julian Nagelsmann, on the other hand, was delighted to note that the German national soccer team will be spared the toughest opponents in the group stage next summer: Portugal, France, Spain, Belgium and England.
"The ideal constellation is that we deal with them if we progress," said the national coach, looking ahead to the hoped-for knockout round of the 2024 European Championship at home. First of all, it will be "exciting" for Nagelsmann at the draw on December 2 (6.00 pm) in Hamburg, the 36-year-old admitted ahead of the test match in Austria on Tuesday (8.45 pm/ZDF), "because it's not in your own hands".
Most decisions have been made
Most of the decisions have already been made before the last games in the regular qualifying round on Tuesday evening. The last of 21 direct tickets still goes to Croatia or Wales. Most of the allocations to the four draw pots, which UEFA distributes according to the results of the qualifying round, and the play-off paths for the last three European Championship tickets in March are also already clear.
A piquant fact: Germany could find themselves in a very challenging group with the Netherlands and Italy. Oranje are safely in pot three, while defending champions Italy could even slip into the worst pot 4.
The current status of the European Championship draw pots:
| Pot 1 | Germany A1 seeded | Portugal | France | Spain | Belgium | England |
| Pot 2 | Hungary | Denmark | Albania | Austria | Turkey or Croatia | Romania or Switzerland |
| Pot 3 | Scotland | Slovenia | Slovakia | Czech Republic | Netherlands | Italy or Turkey or Croatia or Wales |
| Pot 4 | Serbia | Croatia or Wales or Italy | Switzerland or Romania | Winner Playoff A: Poland, Estonia, Croatia or Wales and one team from Finland, Ukraine and Iceland | Playoff B winners: Israel, Bosnia-Herzegovina and two teams from Finland, Ukraine and Iceland | Playoff C winners: Georgia, Greece, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg |
The current standings for the European Championship play-offs:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Path A | Croatia or Wales* | Poland** | Finland or Ukraine or Iceland*** | Estonia |
| Path B | Israel | Bosnia-Herzegovina | Finland or Ukraine*** | Ukraine or Iceland*** |
| Path C | Georgia | Greece or | Kazakhstan | Luxembourg |
* Croatia would be in 1st place, Wales in 2nd place in the path
** Poland in 1st place in the path if Wales are in the play-off
*** after UEFA's draw decision on 23.11. for path A participants
Mode: Team 1 - Team 4 and Team 2 - Team 3 play in each path. The winners of these semi-finals determine the three European Championship participants in finals in their path.
- Despite the excitement about the potential draw, Mats Hummels is focused on the German national team's performance on the field, saying he hasn't given thought to potential opponents in the European Championship (EM).
- With the EM draw pots and playoff paths almost complete, Germany could face a challenging group in the tournament, potentially featuring the Netherlands and Italy, both of which are in Pot 3 and Pot 4 respectively.
- If Croatia secures the last direct ticket in the qualifying round, they will join Poland or Estonia in Pot 1 for the European Championship draw, which will determine the teams in each pot based on their performances in the qualifying rounds.
Source: www.dpa.com
