Euro 2016 Playoff predictions

Published 11/12/2015, 9:07 AM EST

Follow Us

So! It’s crunch time for the 8 European countries. These 8 nations finished 3rd during the group stage’s of the Euro 2016, have been drawn up agaisnt each other to play a 2-leg playoff tie to see which 4 teams will make it to the final 4 slots for the Tournament in the summer.

The 8 nations, irrespective of their 3rd place classifications were seeded based on their national team UEFA Coefficient (updated after the conclusion of the group stage). The top 4 nations with the best UEFA Coefficient were the seeded teams.

The playoff ties, as decided by a draw on 18th October were :

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Ukraine vs Slovenia
Sweden vs Denmark
Bosnia vs Republic of Ireland
Norway vs Hungary

So here is a possible outcome on the result of each playoff tie :

  1. Norway vs Hungary

First match: 12th November 2015, Oslo, Norway
Second Match:  15th November, 2015, Budapest, Hungary

Norway narrowly missed out on an automatic qualification spot, finishing 1 point adrift of Croatia in their group. They finished with 19 against 20 of Croatia.  Their main target man will be Alexander Tetty, who has scored all of his 3 International goals during the campaign. Their defense has been fairly reliable, with the exception of a match against Croatia where they conceded 5 goals (half of their total in the campaign). This should work in their favour.

Hungary are on the rise once again, trying to maybe relive the heights experienced in the 1950s. Since the Euro 2012 qualification, they narrowly missed out on the qualification to that tournament, as well as the FIFA World cup 2014. They finally made a knockout tie with a chance of making their first major international tournament since 1986. However, they are relatively more fragile at the back than Norway, which might tilt the edge slightly in favour of the Scandinavian nation.

Hungary also have their key defender Roland Juhasz, who will miss the first leg through suspension because of the accumulation of Yellow cards.

The first match, being held in Norway, means the Hungarians might try to dig in deep and break on the counter before sealing the tie at Budapest.

The verdict is :

Norway to edge this tie out 2-0 on aggregate.

2. Sweden vs Denmark

 

First Match: 14th November, 2015, Stockhom, Sweden
Second Match: 17th November, 2015, Copenhagen, Denmark

This might hold some special emotions for Sweden and the fans of Zlatan, as it is likely to be his final international tournament for the country.  However, they will be more than dependent on Zlatan who scored 8 of the country’s 15 goals during the qualifying match. Finishing has been a small problem for the country.

via Reuters

They are up against the Danes, who finished behind Albania and Portugal in their group. The team which was in the group of death in the Euro 2012, will want to make it to the finals tournament once again, but they are certainly lacking in firepower with only 8 goals scored in their 8 matches. This will prove to be an obstacle that needs to be overcome, especially against a high flying Swedish side led by Zlatan.

With the first match in Sweden, it should be no surprise to see the Swedes go on an all out attack. Denmark would mostly try to hold on to a goalless draw before taking a win at Copenhagen.

However, verdict is :
Sweden to win the tie 4-1 on aggregate.

3. Bosnia vs Republic of Ireland

First Match: 13th November, 2015, Zenica, Bosnia
Second Match: 16th November, 2015, Dublin, Ireland

This will be the most interesting match to watch among all the 4 ties. Bosnia have recently started to climb in European football, and during the seeding they were the country with the best UEFA Coefficient. They were widely expected to finish 2nd or 3rd in their group, and they have the firepower, as they scored 17 goals during their 10 games. They are spearheaded by Edin Dezko who has 7 goals to his name. Other players in the team are more than capable of scoring, with 4 others having scored more than once.

Republic of Ireland have banged in 19 goals in their campaign (but they also had Gibraltar in their group). However, they do possess a more reliable offence in Johnathan Walter, James McClean , Robbie Keane and Shane Long. However, their defence does have a lot of new faces,  youthful called in to the squad. This is one tie that is finely poised.

Muhamed Bešić of Bosnia, John O’Shea and Johnathan Walter will all miss the first leg through suspension.

Considering the nature of the suspensions, losing O’Shea for the first match and which is an away match for Ireland, will be a massive blow. While they have talented players in their defense to bank upon, his experience loss cannot be replaced. But, with Coleman and Marc Wilson in defense, its possible they can hold off the Bosnians. Their attack should be good to threaten the opposition goal and give their defenders a headache.

Ireland should be able to really put Bosnia to the sword in the second leg, so if they want a chance to reach their first ever Euro tournament, Bosnia will have to make sure they gain a comfortable advantage in the first leg.

The verdict is :

Ireland to take the tie 4-3 on aggregate.

4. Ukraine vs Slovenia

First Match:  14th November, 2015, Lviv, Ukraine
Second Match: 17th November, 2015, Maribor, Slovenia

In their group, Ukraine finished 3rd behind winners Spain and runners up Slovakia. While not having the offensive might of the other two, they had a solid defense, conceding just 4 goals in 10 games. Two of those goals came in 1-0 defeats at the hand of Spain and the others at a piece from Slovakia in Belarus. This will work in favor for them, as defence can help win matches and titles. They also possess a decent attack, having scored 14 goals.

Slovenia finished behind England and Switzerland, and if compared on statistics to their opponents, possess a fairly better attacking record with 18 goals, but a much worse defense, having conceded 11 goals.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Oleksandr Kucher and Taras Stepanenko of Ukraine are suspended for the first leg, and being the key players for their country, it might give an opening for Slovenia to exploit in their first leg match away from home.

However, the verdict is :

Ukraine to take the tie 2-0 on aggregate.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

 

 

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Gaurav

372Articles

One take at a time

Sports is such an amazing passion. A content writer of NBA
Show More>