MADRID, 9 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish soccer team will face Scotland, Norway, Georgia and Cyprus in the qualifying phase for Euro 2024, which will be played from March to November 2023, as determined by the draw held this Sunday in Frankfurt (Germany).
Thus, Luis Enrique’s men will have as their main stumbling block in Group A the Norwegian team of Erling Haaland, a Manchester City player and today’s fittest striker, all after a benevolent draw in which he was also drawn with the selections of Scotland, Georgia -with whom he already coincided in the qualifying phase for the World Cup in Qatar- and Cyprus.
Spain, which started as the top seed and in the pot of teams qualified for the ‘Final Four’ of the League of Nations, secured a group of five teams and avoided dangerous rivals from pot 2 such as France, current world champion , or England, runner-up in Europe.
The Spaniards will meet the Scottish team for the third time – against whom they have lost only two of their 13 games – on their way to the European Championship, while Norway repeats as a rival after appearing on the path of ‘la Roja’ facing to Euro 2020.
The precedents against Georgia are even more recent, with a hard-fought victory in Tbilisi (1-2) and a much more comfortable one in Badajoz (4-0) in the group stage for Cantar 2022. In addition, Cyprus will meet Spain in qualifying continent for the first time since 2000.
Chance wanted the Netherlands and France to face each other in Group B or that Italy, England and Ukraine, along with North Macedonia or Malta, make up the ‘group of death’.
With Germany having a guaranteed place as the host country, the first ten in the group and the ten second in the group, after the matches that will be played from March to November 2023, will qualify directly for the final tournament, which will be held from the 14th of June to July 14, 2024. The three remaining places will be filled by the teams that qualify through the play-offs in March 2024.
–CLASSIFICATION PHASE GROUPS.
GROUP A: SPAIN, Scotland, Norway, Georgia and Cyprus.
GROUP B: Netherlands, France, Ireland, Greece and Gibraltar.
GROUP C: Italy, England, Ukraine, North Macedonia and Malta.
GROUP D: Croatia, Wales, Armenia, Turkey and Latvia.
GROUP E: Poland, Czech Republic, Albania, Faroe Islands and Moldova.
GROUP F: Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Azerbaijan and Estonia.
GROUP G: Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Lithuania.
GROUP H: Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland and San Marino.
GROUP I: Switzerland, Israel, Romania, Kosovo, Belarus and Andorra.
GROUP J: Portugal, Bosnia, Iceland, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Liechtenstein.