Erling Haaland, Luka Modric, Robert Lewandowski, and their national teams all face the possibility of not participating in the Euro 2024 finals scheduled to take place in Germany next year.
Erling Haaland’s Norway national team no longer has a chance to secure direct qualification for Euro 2024. The team is currently third in Group A with 10 points, trailing Spain and Scotland by five points with only one match remaining. Norway’s only chance now is to secure a spot through the playoff rounds. However, to reach this stage, Haaland and his teammates must achieve a positive result in their final away match against Scotland on November 19. If they fail to qualify for the Euro, the Champions League top scorer and last season’s Premier League top scorer will miss his third consecutive international tournament. Norway previously failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2021.
Martin Odegaard has been playing for the Norway national team since 2014. If Norway fails to qualify for Euro 2024, the 24-year-old midfielder will miss his fifth major tournament, following Euro 2016, World Cup 2018, Euro 2021, and World Cup 2022. Odegaard is the captain for both the national team and Arsenal.
In 2021, Gianluigi Donnarumma helped the Italian national team win the Euro and was named the tournament’s best player. However, the 24-year-old goalkeeper now faces the risk of being unable to defend his title. Italy is currently third in Group C with 10 points after six matches, trailing England by six points and Ukraine by three points. Ukraine has played one more match. If Italy does not perform well in the last two matches against North Macedonia and Ukraine, Donnarumma and his teammates may either be eliminated early or have to play additional playoff matches. Only the top two teams directly qualify for Euro. Italy previously failed in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.
20-year-old left-back Destiny Udogie played his first two matches for Italy in October. He was called up again for the last two qualifying matches against North Macedonia and Ukraine but had to return to Tottenham due to injury. If absent from Euro, Udogie will miss the opportunity to showcase his emerging talent. In the first 12 rounds of the Premier League this season, Udogie became a star for Tottenham with 10 appearances. The young talent played a crucial role in Tottenham’s lead in rounds eight, nine, and ten.
Luka Modric’s Croatia national team is currently third in Group D with 10 points after six matches, tied with Wales and six points behind Turkey. Turkey has played one more match but has already secured qualification. If Croatia performs poorly in the last two matches against Latvia and Armenia, Modric and his teammates may have to go through the playoff rounds to secure a spot. Modric previously helped Croatia reach the quarterfinals of Euro 2008, the Round of 16 in Euro 2016, Euro 2021, the final of the 2018 World Cup, and won the silver medal in the 2022 World Cup. With Real Madrid, he has won five Champions League titles and three La Liga titles.
If Croatia fails to qualify for the Euro, Josko Gvardiol will miss the chance to showcase his talent at a major tournament for the second consecutive time. Earlier, the 21-year-old defender helped Croatia win the silver medal in the 2022 World Cup. After transferring from RB Leipzig to Man City in the summer for $99 million, Gvardiol became the most expensive defender in history. He quickly integrated into the new club, playing 13 matches and becoming essential to the defense.
Robert Lewandowski and the Polish national team are currently third in Group E with 10 points after seven matches. They are three points behind group leaders Albania and one point behind second-placed Czech Republic, with one more match to play. If Poland wins against the Czech Republic in the final match, they still have to wait for the results of the other match between their competitors. Lewandowski, who has scored 581 goals in 806 club matches and 81 goals in 144 matches for Poland, may miss the tournament. His best international achievements include reaching the quarterfinals of Euro 2016 and the Round of 16 in the 2022 World Cup.
Evan Ferguson’s Republic of Ireland national team is fourth in Group B with six points after seven matches. Meanwhile, after six matches, France has secured qualification with a perfect 18 points. The Netherlands and Greece have 12 points, competing for the second spot. Ireland has lost the chance for direct qualification. To keep hopes alive for the playoff rounds, they must lose to the Netherlands in the final match.
Teams have a second chance to qualify through the Nations League. The playoff rounds will include teams with the best records in the Nations League that did not qualify for Euro 2024 through the regular qualifiers. For the Republic of Ireland to make it to the playoffs, fewer than eight teams in the Nations League standings must surpass them.
Both the Netherlands and Greece meet the criteria for the playoff rounds, but in the current Nations League standings, Greece is below the Republic of Ireland, while the Netherlands is above. If the Netherlands secures their place in Germany, their playoff spot will be passed on to a lower-ranked team, namely the Republic of Ireland.
If the Netherlands stumble in the remaining qualifiers and lose the second-place position to Greece, they will still go to the playoff rounds. In that case, the Republic of Ireland will lose all hopes of participating in the Euro. If they lose to the Republic of Ireland at home in the match on November 19, the Netherlands still have a chance to rectify by defeating the weaker Gibraltar in the final round to secure the second spot.
If absent from the Euro, Ferguson will miss the opportunity to participate in his first major tournament. The 19-year-old forward is considered a prodigy, scoring three goals in eight international matches. Ferguson has also scored five goals in the Premier League this season for Brighton, including a hat-trick in the 3-1 victory over Newcastle.
