One of the biggest international soccer tournaments gets underway once again this summer with the 2024 European Championship in Germany. Italy comes into the competition as the defending champion after beating England in the Euro 2021 final. France and England are +350 co-favorites to win this summer’s event according to DraftKings Sportsbook, while hosts Germany round out the top three at +550.
There are six groups with four teams each at Euro 2024, with the top two teams in each group automatically qualifying for the knockout round. Teams that finish third in the group could potentially make the round of 16 as well. The top four third-place teams will advance, but there will be no matches played between the third-place teams in different groups. Here’s a look at how the tiebreakers will work for the group stage and for the third-place teams.
The first tiebreaker is head-to-head points between teams tied on total points. The second tiebreaker is head-to-head goal differential and the third tiebreaker is head-to-head goals scored. If there are more than two teams tied when these first three tiebreakers are used, there’s a possibility these measures only result in one team being ranked with two teams still tied. In this case, these tiebreakers would be re-applied to the two teams in question.
If the head-to-head tiebreakers cannot separate teams, the next tiebreaker is goal differential across all group matches. If that tiebreaker cannot separate teams, total goals scored in the group stage would be used.
An interesting wrinkle is the next tiebreaker, which would actually have to be applied on the spot. If two teams are tied heading into the final group stage match and none of the tiebreakers can separate them, the sides in question will go to a penalty shootout. This is different from most other major competitions and only applies to teams tied who are facing each other in the final group stage match.
The last true tiebreaker is card accumulation, with a single yellow card carrying one disciplinary point. A direct red card or two yellow cards resulting in a red card is three points, while a yellow card followed by a direct red card is four points.
If teams are still tied, UEFA rankings are used from the Euro qualifiers. If Germany is involved in this tiebreaker, there will be a random drawing instead of the UEFA ranking.
For the third-place teams tied on points, the head-to-head tiebreakers do not apply. Therefore, the first tiebreaker here is goal differential with the second tiebreaker being goals scored. Wins in the group stage is the next tiebreaker, followed by better disciplinary record and UEFA ranking. If Germany is involved in the UEFA ranking tiebreaker, a random drawing will take place instead.