UEFA has added a new tiebreaker rule to this European Championship in Germany, so at the end of the group stage, we may see penalty shootouts to differentiate two teams with a perfect tie in the standings.
Group E, which Romania is part of at EURO 2024, is the most balanced group in the history of the European Championships, with 3 points for all four participating countries after four games played. The fate of qualifying for the knockout stage will be decided in the final matchday, on Wednesday, June 26. The matches scheduled for that day are Slovakia vs. Romania and Ukraine vs. Belgium, both at the same time, 19:00, LIVE on SpotMedia.ro.
Romania's Group at EURO 2024 Sets a Real Record in the Entire History of the European Championships
According to UEFA regulations, in case two teams that face each other in the final match of the group stage end up with a perfect tie, with identical points and goal difference, the tiebreaker will be determined by penalty shootouts.
However, this scenario may apply to other groups, as in Romania's group, even in case of a tie in points, the goal difference will be different, involving all teams in the battle.
The tiebreaker criteria, set by UEFA, are as follows:
Higher number of points obtained in matches played between the teams in question;
Superior goal difference resulting from matches played between the teams in question;
Higher number of goals scored in matches played between the teams in question;
If, after applying criteria 1-3, the teams are still tied in the standings, criteria 1-3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the still tied teams to determine the final ranking;
If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria from 5 to 10 are applied;
Superior goal difference in all group stage matches;
Higher number of goals scored in all group stage matches;
If in the final stage of the group phase, two teams facing each other are tied on points, goal difference, and the match ends in a draw, the winning team is determined by penalty shootouts. (This criterion is not used if more than two teams have the same number of points);
Total of fewer disciplinary points in all group stage matches (1 point for a yellow card, 3 points for a red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
Higher position in the overall qualification standings, except when the comparison involves the host country, Germany, in which case a draw will take place.