Following a goalless draw against Ukraine, Belgium finished second in Group E and will now play France in the Euro 2024 last 16.
The four teams received the same number of points; Romania led the way in goals scored, but Belgium faltered in their first round match, falling to Slovakia 1-0.
The Red Devils were unable to build on their 2-0 triumph over Romania, while Ukraine, who finished last and became the first side to leave the group stage with four points since the tournament’s expansion, was unable to find a vital goal to turn the group on its head.
3rd Place Ranking
| Pos. | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS | Form | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 |
Netherlands | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
WDL
|
| 2 |
 |
Georgia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
LDW
|
| 3 |
 |
Slovakia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
WLD
|
| 4 |
 |
Slovenia | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
DDD
|
| 5 |
 |
Hungary | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 3 |
LLW
|
| 6 |
 |
Croatia | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -3 | 2 |
LDD
|
To Kevin De Bruyne’s credit, Domenico Tedesco’s Belgium produced one memorable moment but lacked a cutting edge. De Bruyne played Romelu Lukaku with a deft pass, but goalie Anatoliy Trubin stopped his shot because he was unable to make proper touch.
Georgiy Sudakov’s long shot straight at custodian Koen Casteels and Roman Yaremchuk’s strange attempt to pass across goal when he appeared to be in a better position to shoot were examples of Ukraine’s greater threat.
Although they controlled the game better in the second half, Belgium faltered in the last ten minutes. Ruslan Malinovskyi, of Ukraine, nearly fooled Casteels with a corner kick, blasting it towards the near post, which the custodian parried away on the goalline.
After a powerful run, Sudakov had a late chance to win it and send Belgium home, but he fired straight at Casteels.
Belgium manager Domenico Tedesco on facing France:
“We go to win. We will face a top team and this is the reason why we qualified – otherwise we could have stayed at home.
“These are the games we are looking for, we can challenge everybody. I think we are ready, we are really ready.”
Ukraine manager Serhiy Rebrov said:
“We showed the character of our people. We need the support of Europe and we are part of Europe. It is very important for us to be represented here.
“Unfortunately we didn’t do well. This is like in life, you make some mistakes and then it’s very important how you react. I think we reacted well.
“We are very proud of the players. Everyone in Ukraine is unhappy with the score but there are no question marks for the players.
“It’s very important to show that we are still alive, we are still fighting and we will not stop.”
Group E results
Jun 17 |
||||||||
| FT | Romania |  |
3 | v | 0 |  |
Ukraine | |
| FT | Belgium |  |
0 | v | 1 | |
Slovakia | |
Jun 21 |
||||||||
| FT | Slovakia | |
1 | v | 2 | |
Ukraine | |
Jun 22 |
||||||||
| FT | Belgium | |
2 | v | 0 | |
Romania | |
Jun 26 |
||||||||
| FT | Slovakia | |
1 | v | 1 | |
Romania | |
| FT | Ukraine | |
0 | v | 0 | |
Belgium | |
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