EURO 2024: WHY FRANCE OR SPAIN WILL NOT PLAY A MATCH FOR THIRD PLACE

The loser of the Euro 2024 semi-final between France and Spain this Tuesday (9 p.m.) will not play a match for third place, as is the case at the World Cup.

A win or go home. The deal is simple for France and Spain who face each other this Tuesday (9pm) in the semi-final of Euro 2024. The competition will end there for the loser who will not have a consolation prize for third place against the loser of the other semi-final between England and the Netherlands, Wednesday (9pm). The bronze medal match was eliminated after the 1980 edition of the Euro where the format had nothing to do with the current one.

The small final disappeared in 1984

At the time, eight teams were divided into two groups of four with the final promised to the first of each group. The match for third place was played between the second-placed teams. In 1980, West Germany won the title by beating Belgium in the final (2-1) while Czechoslovakia beat Italy in the third-placed final (1-1, 9 tab 8) and thus remains the last third-placed team in the history of the Euro.

For the 1984 edition (won by France), UEFA changed its format by adding semi-finals played between the top two in each group. The addition of these matches led to the elimination of the third-place match. And it has never seen the light of day again. It still exists in the World Cup (Croatia finished there in 2022).

This Tuesday, the players of the French team have the opportunity to qualify for the fourth final in their history at the Euro after those won in 1984 and 2000 and the one lost at home against Portugal in 2016 (1-0, aet). They had also failed in the semi-finals in 1996 against the Czech Republic. Spain, for its part, has won the Euro three times (1964, 2008 and 2012) and will become the most successful team in the competition in the event of being crowned on Sunday in Berlin by overtaking Germany (three titles).

“For me, no matter the result, this team is the best, even if we will have a great team against us,” coach Luis De La Fuente said at a press conference on Monday. “That’s what I thought before arriving at the Euro, now and until the final.”