Among the teams qualified for the round of 16, four countries will come from third place in their group.

How are they selected?

Europe 1 helps you to understand the functioning of a system put in place since Euro 2016, and essential to get an idea of ​​the future round of 16.

This is the great novelty with the formula with 24 teams instead of 16: alongside the first two of each group, the four best thirds of Euro 2020 qualify for the knockout stages.

A system that offers more possibilities for nations to advance to the next round.

Out of six teams that will finish third in their group, two of them will therefore have to pack their bags at the end of the group stage.

The other four will win their ticket to continue the European adventure.

An operation already seen at Euro 2016, and which had allowed Portugal to reach the knockout stages before finally winning the competition.

To be among the four best third, several criteria are taken into account by UEFA.

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The number of points in the ranking

To imagine the selection of the best third, it suffices to establish a general classification with the six countries concerned.

As with groups, the most important element is the number of points each nation has totaled.

Thus, provisionally, Switzerland is at the top of this ranking with four points, thanks to its victory over Turkey (3-1) and its draw against Wales (1-1).

Next come Portugal, Austria and Finland who all have three points but have yet to make their final group stage game.

Spain and Croatia are in danger in this Euro.

The ranking of the best third on June 21:

1. Switzerland (4 points)


2. Portugal (3 points, +1 goal difference)


3. Austria (3 points, 3 goals scored)


4. Finland (3 points, 1 goal)


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5. Spain (2 points )


6. Croatia (1 point)

The biggest goal difference

In such a ranking, it is very likely that teams display the same number of points.

In this case, UEFA selects the nations which have the best goal difference, i.e. the result of the subtraction between the number of goals scored and the number conceded.

If this result is once again identical between several countries, advantage to the team which will have scored the most often.

And if that is still not enough, the organizer relies on the number of victories.

Clearly, a win is better than three draws.

Fair play and the qualifying hierarchy

In the event of a perpetual tie, UEFA takes into account the number of yellow and red cards received by the different teams.

If this number is the lower, the country will be chosen by the organizer on the basis of its fair play on the pitch.

A fairly rare case, but one that was observed during the 2018 World Cup, during which Japan eliminated Senegal thanks to a lower number of yellow cards.

Finally, if all these criteria are not enough, it is the country which will have performed best in the qualifiers for Euro 2020 which will advance to the round of 16.

The particular distribution of the best thirds

When the four best thirds are known, all that remains is to distribute them in the round of 16 of the competition. According to the schedule, all will face a group first. And to place them in the posters, UEFA has already provided for the different (and complex) scenarios, in its 21.05 regulations, depending on the origin of the groups of each best third. For example, if France finishes first in their group F, they will meet the third in group A, B or C on June 28 in Bucharest. There are therefore still many uncertainties before knowing the identity of the future opponent of the Blues.