Euro '24 draw: France to face Netherlands; Spain against Italy

Euro ’24 draw: France to face Netherlands; Spain against Italy،

The draw for next summer’s Euro 2024 in Germany took place on Saturday and saw France and Spain battle a difficult path to the last 16.

A total of 21 teams have already qualified for the tournament, with three more spots up for grabs in a playoff tournament to be played in March.

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France will play in Group D, where it will face the Netherlands, Austria and the winners of Playoffs A (Poland, Wales, Finland, Estonia).

Didier Deschamps’ side won the World Cup in 2018 and reached the final in 2022, but will hope to make up for it after the last Euro, where they succumbed to a disappointing exit in the round of 16.

Spain, who won this tournament in 2008 and 2012, have been drawn in Group B but will also face a tough test after being drawn against defending champions Italy and Croatia , semi-finalist of the World Cup. Albania is the last team in the group.

England are still seeking their first major men’s title since 1966 – they finished second after a penalty shootout defeat to Italy in the previous edition of the tournament in 2021 – and Gareth Southgate’s side was drawn in Group C alongside Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia.

“You always feel the same. Games aren’t played on paper,” Southgate told reporters. “All the teams we face are more than capable. I was really relaxed about it all. You know, the goal is to get out of the group.”

Germany have been in poor form this year, but were removed from Pot 1 and moved into Group A as tournament hosts. They will begin the tournament against Scotland, with further group matches against Hungary and Switzerland.

“They [Germany] We will have to be ready to welcome many Scots,” said Scottish coach Steve Clarke.

The tournament will begin on June 14 and the final will take place at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on July 14.

Earlier on Saturday, UEFA announced the Euro 2024 prize amount, in which the winner will receive an additional payment of 8 million euros ($8.70 million) on top of their participation fee of 9 .25 million euros.

Teams will also receive a match bonus of 1 million euros for wins and 500,000 euros for draws. Additional rewards will be given to teams qualifying for the Round of 16, Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals.

“The amount to be distributed to the participating teams is confirmed at the same level as for…Euro 2020, i.e. a total of 331 million euros,” UEFA said.

“The maximum amount that the champion team can reach, if they win their three group matches, is 28.25 million euros.”

Information from Reuters was used in this report.