UEFA Euro 2024: Which team disappointed the most in group stage?

New Delhi: This Euro campaign has witnessed some shocking results, major upsets and some early exits from the group stages. There were certain teams that just couldn’t hit the ground running and eventually made shocking exits from the competitions during the group stage. These teams looked highly disappointing throughout the group stage and despite putting in some good efforts in trying to keep their hopes alive, somehow they couldn’t get the job done.

There were three European sides that were expected to do much better than how they performed given the quality of players at their disposal and their recent history in the competition.

Ukraine’s heartbreaking exit

Ukraine were a part of Group E where they were up against Belgium, Romania and Slovakia and had the worst possible start to the campaign after getting thrashed 3-0 in the opening matchday against Romania. This was a damaging defeat that caused some real concerns for Serhiy Rebrov who had to look for an immediate response in the second matchday against Slovakia. However, things didn’t look great as they were behind after just 17 minutes into the game as Ivan Schranz gave Slovakia the lead.

Rebrov’s side responded brilliantly as Mykola Shaparenko scored the leveller in the 54th minute. The match didn’t end there as Ukraine were able to make a remarkable comeback after Roman Yaremchuk scored a wonderful goal, late in the 80th minute to give Ukraine a well deserved lead. This was a much needed win for the Ukranian side as they got their confidence back after a demoralising defeat in the first matchday.

However, despite giving a good fight against Belgium in the final matchday of the group stage, the match ended deadlocked and Ukraine were left heartbroken on the pitch as it was confirmed that they finished last due to their goal difference in their group where every team ended up with four points on the board.

It turned out to be a disappointing campaign considering the fact that Ukraine have a decent squad depth. They had the experience as well as youth on their side with the likes of veterans such as Andriy Yarmolenko, Taras Stepanenko and Ruslan Malinovsky and some talented youngsters including the likes of Mykhaylo Mudryk and Artem Dobvyk.

Ukraine had a wonderful 2020 Euro campaign where they made it throught to the quarter final. It was a campaign full of highs that were not matched this time around. However, it was a campaign where they were expected to make it out of their group, instead they got eliminated. It seemed like their heavy defeat in the first matchday against Romania, proved costly as they went out on goal difference.

Poland became the first team to get eliminated

Euro 2024 was a complete horror show for Poland as they became the first team to get eliminated from the competition. Poland were a part of group D where they had to face tough competition including the likes of the Netherlands, to whom they lost 2-1 in the opening matchday, Austria, a side with some real intent who eventually beat the Polish 3-1 and 2016 Euro finalists France against whom, Poland were able to draw the game 1-1 in the final matchday od group stages.

Poland never looked like the favourites to make it out of their group and eventually their campaign turned into a complete nightmare as they suffered an early elimination after they lost their second game against Austria. They had the experience on the pitch with a few highly reputed players, but their biggest problem was their lack of firepower, something you can’t mention considering the fact that they have one of the best strikers of this decade.

However, it never looked like they showed any sort of intent after their frustrating first matchday defeat. It was disappointing to see them exiting the race this early and above all, a sad end to what might just be the final international tournament for Robert Lewandowski.

Czech failed to match the standards of their previous campaigns

Czech Republic have a reputation of performing well in the UEFA European championships as they have made it out of the goup stages thrice out of the last six Euro campaigns since 2004 where they reached the semi final. The previous campaign saw them reaching the quarter final after they finished third in their group, qualifying as one of the best third placed teams. This time their performances were nowhere close to how they performed in the previous campaign as they are already out of this campaign.

The Czech started their campaign with a frustrating loss against Portugal, losing 2-1, conceding a last minute goal. Despite their disappointing start, they had a chance to respond immediately as they faced the debutants Georgia in the second matchday, but yet agains were left frustrated as the match ended 1-1, where they failed miserably to convert the chances they created. They had a total of 17 shots out of which just one went in.

Their run came to an end after their final matchday defeat against Turkey, who beat them 2-1. It was a campaign where they had hopes of repeating their 2020 Euro heroics but somehow they couldn’t play with the same intensity and their spirits were low throughout the campaign. This was a disappoining end to their campaign as the fans had high hopes and were expecting them to at least make it out of their group.

 As the UEFA Euro 2024 group stage matches come to an end, here’s a look at the teams that disappointed the most.  Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today