Euro 2024 Playoffs: Final previews

Path A: Wales v Poland

Wales stormed to victory in last week’s semi-final clash with Finland, setting up a play-off final with Poland for a spot at the Euros. David Brooks opened the scoring inside five minutes before Neco Williams doubled their advantage just before the break. Teemu Pukki pulled one back on the stroke of half-time, but second-half strikes from Brennan Johnson and Daniel James sealed the Welsh side’s progression.

Poland handed a similar defeat to their opponents Estonia. Przemyslaw Frankowski gave the Poles the lead, with four further goals coming in the second 45, prompted by Estonia’s Maksim Paskotsi’s red card just before the half-hour mark. Martin Vetkal scored late on for the visitors, but they were beaten 5-1.

The pair meet at the Cardiff City Stadium to seal their fate, with only one of them going through. Robert Lewandowski will be a key player to watch. Poland’s Barcelona striker could be the difference between a place at Euro 2024 or watching the tournament from home.

Path B: Ukraine v Iceland

Ukraine progressed to the final play-off game in dramatic fashion, with a late comeback against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The hosts took the lead late after the interval through an own-goal, but a late double from Roman Yaremchuk and Artem Dovbyk minutes from time saw them win 2-1, to put them just one victory away from attending this summer’s championships.

They will take on Iceland, who comfortably saw off Israel in their Path B semi-final. The hosts took the lead in the first half, but it was no match for Albert Guðmundsson’s hat-trick and Arnor Ingvi Trautason’s strike before the break.

Talisman Guðmundsson will be the player to watch coming into Tuesday’s game, with the Genoa player’s free-scoring form set to prove a big test for the Ukrainian defence. If he can continue finding the back of the net, Iceland may well book their spot.

Path C: Georgia v Greece

Rounding off the play-off finals is Georgia, who progressed with a 2-0 victory over Luxembourg. Budu Zivzivadze’s brace was enough to see them past the 10-man team following Maxime Chanot’s dismissal. They face a Greece team who eased past Kazakhstan in a 5-0 victory.

Liverpool full-back Kostas Tsimikas could be the difference-maker when these sides meet at the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena on Tuesday, proving an integral part of the Greek side both in attack and in defence.

Winners of these games will take up the remaining spots in Groups D, E, and F of Euro 2024:

• Group D: Path A winners, Netherlands, Austria, France
• Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Path B winners
• Group F: Türkiye, Path C winners, Portugal, Czechia