The draw for the 2024 European Championship has taken place in Hamburg and Portugal cannot complain of bad luck.
The Seleção were placed in Group F (the same as when Portugal won the tournament in 2016) alongside the Czech Republic, Turkey and the winner of the playoff path involving Georgia, Greece, Kazakhstan and Luxembourg.
Portugal’s full group stage schedule is as follows:
- Portugal v Czech Republic, 18 June, in Leipzig
- Portugal v Turkey, 22 June, in Dortmund
- Portugal v playoff winner, 26 June, in Gelsenkirchen
The rest of the draw threw up an authentic “Group of Death”, Group B, which consists of Spain, Croatia, Italy and Albania.
Reaction of Portugal coach Roberto Martínez to the draw
“It’s good news that we’ll be playing in the central zone of Germany. We’ll be close to the Portuguese fans, playing in the stadiums of Dortmund, Leipzig and Schalke 04, and the gap between the games helps us.
“The opponents are always tough. The winner of the playoff will come into the tournament extra motivated. Czechia is a bit of an unknown because they don’t have a coach at the moment, but I know the team and they have high-level players.
“Turkey won their qualification group against teams like Croatia and Wales and have a good mix of young individual talent and experience, which makes them a very competitive team.
“But what is important is not our opponents. It’s what we can do ourselves. We had a very good qualification campaign, but that doesn’t give us any advantage in the tournament.
“We have to grow in the first three games and now it’s a question of preparing well so that we can give our fans joy and to make sure we’re ready on the 18th.”
by Tom Kundert
The Seleção Podcast - Live Euro 2024 reaction
In this LIVE Episode of The Seleção Podcast, host Danny Pinto is joined by the Portuguese Hammer, the Tuga from Texas, Eric Vieira, as they broadcast during the EURO 2024 draw, which saw Portugal land in Group F with Turkey, Czech Republic, and the winner of Playoff C (Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece, or Kazakhstan).
To listen to the podcast click on the play button below.
To watch the episode on YouTube click on the screen below.
