Euro 2016 Qualifying to Lose Zeal with 24 Nations to Feature in Tournament
Nick Spiller
The European international soccer tournament is set to change for 2016, and we will now see the ramifications of that change in the following years of international matchups within the continent.
The Euro tournaments used to feature just 16 teams. With more than 50 European nations competing for the spots, just earning a trip to the competition was a major feat, and would make qualifying campaigns extremely exciting.
However, now that 24 teams (nearly half of the entrants) will be a part of France 2016, the qualifying matches will be far less thrilling, as every major team should qualify with ease, alongside a slew of teams with no business being there.
In previous years, the format of European competitions was such that only the top teams were able to navigate through and become a part of events like the World Cup or the Euro tournament. Teams winning their groups would directly qualify, while the second place teams would engage in playoff matches to determine the rest of the slots. Now, both top teams will directly reach the Euros while the third place teams will be involved in playoffs. In doing so, the big time teams will qualify very comfortably while all the excitement will be between lesser teams.
In many ways this will improve support for such weaker European nations. Teams like Israel, Ireland, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey, Wales, Estonia, Serbia, and Austria are usually just on the outside looking in when it comes to these tournaments. Now they will be the ones engaged in the playoff matches and will have a great chance at qualifying to the Euro affair. Additionally, the matches will continue to be interesting between the lesser nations who are battling it out for that crucial third position and the chance to progress.
But for fans outside of these countries, or for residents of major European soccer forces (who may actually contend for the Euro title), the qualifying matches will become an absolute bore. While we all usually expect the likes of Germany, Italy, England, the Netherlands, and Spain to make the grade, their games won't even be interesting as it's practically assured that they will qualify.
Even the second tier of European teams should qualify directly with second place finishes. Such nations include teams like Belgium, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Russia, and Poland. In the past, they've had serious struggles reaching international tournaments (Sweden and Poland actually missed out on the 2014 World Cup), which has made their qualifying campaigns incredibly exciting. Who will ever forget the dramatic showdown between Portugal and Sweden a year ago featuring two of the world's greats Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic each competing for a chance to compete in Brazil? Such mega-matches won't exist in the European tournament anymore. They'll showcase two nations with players we've never heard of, and no one will be interested.
The other problem is with regards to the tournament itself. Sure, UEFA wants more games at Euro 2016, and people will definitely watch, but seeing Germany and Italy beat up on Hungary and Scotland will hardly be inspiring. Fans want to see the epic semifinal and final matchups pitting the big teams against one another. More average teams will bring down the tournament's quality.
The other problem comes with the increased threat of injuries to players. In the past, following 3 group stage matches, the Euro tournament would transition straight to the quarterfinals, meaning that champions would play a max of 6 games.
Now, there will be a round of 16 like in the World Cup. This added game will strain the players and increase the potential for injuries. The greatest example of such an injury ruining a team's hopes comes from Neymar, whose absence from the Brazil national team was partly responsible for the 7-1 debacle against Germany in the semifinals this summer.
With players enduring endless matches throughout their domestic league seasons, this added game will simply lead to further complications and injuries to the stars of the sport, all for the sake of some average team getting to appear (and lose) in the Euro tournament.
Nevertheless, this is the way things have been organized for Euro 2016. We will still get to see the big boys beat up on those lesser teams, it just won't really matter as much when the top teams of a group meet up. Therefore, games that could have been really exciting like England vs. Switzerland, Russia vs. Sweden, Italy vs. Croatia, Germany vs. Poland, and Portugal vs. Denmark won't be anywhere near as important, because all those teams will probably qualify anyway. Yes, the Czech Republic recently made quite the shocker in beating the Netherlands, but the weight of that outcome will not be very important in the grand scheme of Euro 2016 qualification.
Now the drama will consist of games like Albania vs. Serbia, Austria vs. Montenegro, Finland vs. Hungary, and Wales vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina. Does any casual fan have any interest in one of those games? Does it really matter who wins and qualifies for Euro 2016? They will be beaten badly there anyway. In diluting this tournament, UEFA has taken away some of the more entertaining marquee international soccer games that fans have so loved.
If there is a silver lining in this mess it comes with the understanding that the European World Cup qualification process has yet to be altered in such a fashion. With just 13 or 14 teams from Europe reaching World Cups, we will still get to see massive playoff matches like the memorable Sweden vs. Portugal of last year or the infamous France vs. Ireland in 2010 World Cup qualifying, they will just come about less often. However, don't rest easy as FIFA officials have been discussing the possibility of expanding the World Cup as well.
And for now, you definitely will not be seeing any such high profile international matches in the qualification period ahead of Euro 2016. Instead, there will be a bunch of cake walks and uninspiring games as all the teams accustomed to winning stroll through their groups, with no worry about the occasional slip-up or draw.
The real exciting games won't feature any players of significance, and it will be two long years before the quarterfinals of Euro 2016 bring about any international European matches of interest. Well, at least we can take hope in the fact that the domestic club seasons have finally returned to action.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Buy tickets for soccer matches around the world