EURO 2024 play-off draw: Wales vs Finland, Israel vs Iceland, Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Ukraine
Friday, December 1, 2023
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The final undecided pairings and the host nations for the three finals have been decided following the UEFA EURO 2024 play-off draw on Thursday.
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The UEFA EURO 2024 play-off draw was conducted in Nyon, Switzerland on Thursday.
EURO 2024 play-off draw
Semi-finals – Path A: Poland vs Estonia, Wales vs Finland
Semi-finals – Path B: Israel vs Iceland, Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Ukraine
Semi-finals – Path C: Georgia vs Luxembourg, Greece vs Kazakhstan
Final – Path A: Wales/Finland vs Poland/Estonia
Final – Path B: Bosnia-Herzegovina/Ukraine vs Israel/Iceland
Final – Path C: Georgia/Luxembourg vs Greece/Kazakhstan
When are the play-off games?
The semi-finals will take place on Thursday 21 March 2024, with the three finals scheduled for Tuesday 26 March. The three winners will complete the 24-team final tournament line-up.
How did the play-off draw work?
Path C
No draw, allocation confirmed.
The League C path was formed of three League C group winners, Georgia, Greece and Kazakhstan, as well as the League C group runner-up, Luxembourg. No draw was required and the semi-finals of path C were determined as:
a. Semi-final 1: Georgia v Luxembourg
b. Semi-final 2: Greece v Kazakhstan
Path B
Draw between the three League B runners-up Finland, Ukraine and Iceland.
The League B path was formed by two League B group winners, Israel and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as two out of the three League B group runners-up entering the draw: Finland, Ukraine and Iceland.
Israel, as the best-ranked group winners, were set as the home team in semi-final 1, and Bosnia and Herzegovina will host semi-final 2. To decide which two teams join the League B group winners in path B, a draw was conducted from a single pot, containing three balls representing Finland, Ukraine and Iceland.
• A first ball was drawn.
- If the team drawn first was Finland, the team would be allocated to Semi-final 2.
- If the team drawn first was Iceland, the team would be allocated to Semi-final 1.
- If the team drawn first was Ukraine, no allocation to the semi-final 1 or 2 could be made until the second ball had been drawn.
• A second ball was drawn.
- If the team drawn second was Finland, the team would be allocated to Semi-final 2.
- If the team drawn second was Iceland, the team would be allocated to Semi-final 1.
- If the team drawn second was Ukraine, the team would be allocated to Semi-final 1 in the event that the first team drawn was Finland, or to Semi-final 2 in the event that the first team drawn was Iceland.
The semi-finals of path B were determined depending on the draw outcome as:
a. Semi-final 1: Israel v Ukraine/Iceland
b. Semi-final 2: Bosnia-Herzegovina v Finland/Ukraine
Path A
Remaining League B team to complete the path.
The third and last ball was drawn and the team was allocated to path A to fill the last open spot.
The League A path would be formed of the two League A teams entering the draw, Poland and Wales, the League B runner-up drawn in third position (either Finland, Ukraine or Iceland), and Estonia from League D. No draw was required and the semi-finals of path A were determined as:
a. Semi-final 1: Poland v Estonia
b. Semi-final 2: Wales v Finland/Ukraine/Iceland
How were the play-off finals allocated?
Three draws were held to determine which semi-final pair within each play-off path was given the right to host the play-off final.
Once the semi-final in question has been played, the winner of this match is certain to be at home against the winner of the other semi-final.
For each path, two balls were prepared representing each semi-final pair: Semi-final 1 and Semi-final 2.
Path C
The first ball drawn determined which semi-final winner of Path C would host the final match. The second ball drawn was shown to complete the draw for Path C.
Paths B and A
The draw continued with Path B and concluded with Path A in the same fashion.