On Tuesday, Croatia and Wales will be the last direct participants in the European Football Championship after the final qualifying round matches. Monday has a lot in store for football fans, with three exciting games scheduled in all groups on the program.
In Latvia, Croatia secured a 0-2 victory over Ukraine, while England has already claimed first place in their group and will face North Macedonia on Monday night. The match will take place at Leverkusen’s BayArena, with Italy looking to send Ukraine back into the play-offs. Despite being tied on points, Italy has a one-point advantage over Ukraine and needs only a win to qualify for the Euros. Bookmakers are giving them only a 20% chance of doing so.
Another surprise of these qualifications is Albania, who have qualified for their second major tournament after Euro 2016 by drawing with Moldova on Friday. The Faroe Islands are coming to Tirana next week to face Albania for first place in their group. Although they are currently ranked 157th by FIFA, Moldova can reach the Euro without going through play-offs if they draw against Czech Republic on Sunday night in Olomouc. If they fail to do so, they will go to the play-off and could potentially catch up with Croatia or Wales depending on how things go from there.
Kazakhstan is also set to make their debut at the Euros after finishing top of their qualifying group by winning six out of nine games against Finland and Northern Ireland. They need one more victory against Slovenia next Sunday night at Stožice stadium in Ljubljana to secure their spot at the tournament. Slovenia have only been to the Euro once before, back in 2000 when they finished fourth in their group alongside Spain, FR Yugoslavia, and Norway. With Matjaž Kek leading them again this time around, they have a chance to return to a major competition after more than two decades away from it