Day 12 of the UEFA Euro 2024 had four games taking place as we near the end of the group stages.
England played Slovenia, while Denmark took on Serbia in the same group. Belgium were up against Ukraine, while Slovakia and Romania faced off with one another.
Denmark’s final group game saw them come up against Serbia, and they needed two points to secure a spot in the top two. However, with Slovenia failing to beat England in the other encounter, Denmark managed to finish second anyway after a goalless draw.
The Danes were the better team, but Serbia had their opportunities towards the end of the tie. Christian Eriksen came closest to scoring from an effort in the first half. His team also edged possession stats (54%), took 10 shots (five more than Serbia), and found the target on three occasions.
With Serbia last in the group, they exit the competition in the first round.
England managed to finish on top of this group despite an underwhelming performance once again. Despite dominating possession (74%) against Slovenia, the Three Lions failed to find the back of the net.
England have scored just twice in the entire competition. They recorded 12 attempts (eight more than their opponents), and tested Jan Oblak on four occasions.
After finishing on top of their group, England will take on Slovakia in the Round of 16, while Slovenia will be up against Portugal.
Also watch: Should Cristiano Ronaldo start for Portugal in the knockout stages of Euro 2024?
For neutral fans, the fortunate news is that this was the only game that saw some goals throughout the day. In a group where one wasn’t sure of what points to finish with to qualify, both these teams got through at the end.
However, it was an early scare for Romania, who went behind to Ondrej Duda’s 24th-minute strike. They produced an equaliser just 13 minutes later through Razvan Marin, who converted from the spot.
However, neither side scored after the interval, which allowed Romania to finish on top of this group and Slovakia to qualify as one of the four third-placed teams. Slovakia had more of the ball (59%) and chances (13 shots to nine) in this one.
The last game of the evening, which happened in parallel to Romania versus Slovakia, was another goalless draw between Belgium and Ukraine.
A draw is all Belgium needed to progress. Unfortunately for Ukraine, their poor goal difference sees them exit the tournament in the first round despite having the same points as the group winners.
The closest Ukraine came to scoring was from a corner in the 83rd minute when they attempted to go direct; besides that, Koen Casteels had only regulatory saves to make. He faced four shots on target, the same number of attempts on goal Belgium themselves managed. It was Kevin De Bruyne and his team who kept more of the ball (60%) but managed a shot fewer than their opponents (13 compared to 12).
How the points table looks:
Group C
| Teams | Played | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Denmark | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Slovenia | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Serbia | 3 | -1 | 2 |
Group E
| Teams | Played | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romania | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Belgium | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Slovakia | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Ukraine | 3 | -2 | 4 |
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