Euro 24 Football Language Phrase (Day 11): Best Third-Placed Sides
In this football language post we look at the phrase, ‘best third-placed sides‘ as the 2024 Euros reach the end of the group stages. Don’t forget we have hundreds more explanations of football language in our football glossary and we also have a page full of football cliches. If you have questions or comments about this or any other phrase then email us at: admin@languagecaster.com.
Best Third-Placed Sides
It’s almost the end of the group stage of the 2024 Euros which means that 8 of the 24 teams will have to go home after being eliminated. The top two sides from each of the six groups automatically qualify for the last 16 with the other four places coming from the best third-place sides. This means that two of the teams that finish third in their group will not qualify as they do not have as many points (or goals or wins) as the other teams in third place. In a dramatic final group match Croatia thought they’d done enough to qualify after they’d scored in the second half to go one up against holders Italy. The Azzurri would have probably finished as one of the best third-placed sides but they then stunned Croatia when they scored a last-gasp winner (in the 98th minute) to qualify automatically in second place behind Spain. Croatia were hoping that two points would be enough to qualify as one of the best third-placed sides but it was not to be and they were eliminated.
- Example: But, to Italy’s credit, they kept going until the very end, even though they would probably have progressed as one of the best third-placed sides. (BBC.co.uk, June 24 2024)
Related Vocabulary
- Euro 2024: Lay down a marker
- Euro 2024: Kickstart their campaign
- Euro 2024: Preview and Predictions
- Euro 2024: Screamer
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