How crazy is this?!
Imagine that you are playing in an international soccer match, and you have to lose in order to qualify for a major tournament.
Sound completely stupid? nothing? there!
This crazy constellation happens when… Nations League– Scotland vs England women’s match on Tuesday (8.45pm).
Background: Only the group winners in the Nations League advance to the semi-finals and thus have a chance of securing an Olympic ticket. While England still have every chance of doing so, the Scots sit last in Group A in the Nations League (see table below).
What’s special: At the Olympic Games, England always competes as a Great Britain team, hence a mix of players from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
This means for the duel between Scotland and England: if England beats Scotland, they can become group winners and get a ticket to the Olympic Games. This would also make Scottish women happy, as some of them could hope to become part of the Great Britain team that will then compete in Paris.
In the middle of the game – as if you are in a trance Huge talents start dancing
The English national team currently ranks second with nine points. The Netherlands also ranks first with nine points. First, the direct comparison is important, and it is balanced with three points and 4:4 goals. Then comes goal difference – England is currently (+1) three goals behind the Netherlands (+4). The Belgians could still finish first if they beat the Netherlands on Tuesday (8.45pm) and England don’t win at the same time.
The BBC also says: “Things are getting a little strange at Hampden on Tuesday…”
| Nations League Group A1 | points | Gates |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Netherlands | 9 | 10:6 |
| 2. England | 9 | 9:8 |
| 3. Belgium | VIII | 7:6 |
| 4. Scotland | 2 | 3:9 |
Recently, there was a similar constellation when the Irish football team lost to the NetherlandsIn order to maintain the opportunity to qualify for the 2024 European Championship in Germany.
Background: Before the match, the Irish were already trailing the second qualifying group in fourth place on six points and had no chance of qualifying for the European Championship in this way.
This means that Ireland’s position in the European Championship qualifiers cannot matter. Things looked different with the Dutch stationed!
Because: After qualifying, there are still three EM tickets left. It will be played in three minor leagues next spring. Who is allowed to participate determines the position in the last season of the UN League. There, Ireland only finished in twenty-sixth place. So the Irish had to hope that enough of the countries directly ahead of them would qualify to make room for them.
That’s why it was advantageous for Ireland for the Netherlands (fourth in the Nations League) to get a direct European Championship ticket – and not Greece, which finished 34th in the Nations League behind Ireland.
Ireland eventually lost the match to the Dutch 0-1. Our neighbors qualified directly for the European Championship. Despite the bankruptcy, which made sense for them, it did not work out for the Irish, as they did not participate in the European Championship qualifiers and their position was not good enough.
By the way: German women are also vying for an Olympic shot on Tuesday. A win over the Welsh Women (7.30pm) would be enough for first place in Group A3. However, the decisive match is not shown on free-to-air TV.
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