New faces and more surprises: An increasingly competitive EURO

Among those revelling in confirmation of their team's place in the round of 16 at UEFA EURO 2024, the voices of Georgia fans rang out particularly loudly as they celebrated their first qualification for a major tournament knockout stage, having recorded a 2-0 victory over highly rated Portugal.

Georgia – playing at their first-ever EURO – are joined in the latter stages of the tournament by fellow knockout debutants Slovenia, while Romania are returning for the first time since 2000. Austria, meanwhile, defied many pre-tournament predictions by emerging top of a tricky group that contained France, the Netherlands and Poland.

Fresh opportunity

Those results illustrate how the 24-team set-up introduced for the 2016 edition has increased the variety of teams competing at the top level while maintaining the level of competitiveness.

In 2016, Wales reached the semi-finals and debutants Iceland not only qualified from their group but stunned heavyweights England in the round of 16. Their Nordic counterparts Denmark then reached the last four at EURO 2020.

Equally, the opportunity for third-placed sides to qualify for the knockout stage means more teams have something to play for throughout, and gives some of the less-fancied nations a greater chance of going further in the tournament. At EURO 2020, 23 of the 24 sides had something at stake ahead of their final group games, while this year only Poland were already out heading into Matchday 3.

Denmark celebrate in front of their fans following victory against Czechia in the EURO 2020 quarter-finalsUEFA via Getty Images

An increasingly unpredictable tournament

Georgia and Slovenia's appearances in the last 16 of EURO 2024 are historic moments for traditionally smaller footballing nations, but also exemplify the growing competitiveness of the EURO.

All 24 teams claimed at least one point, and the average points difference between first and fourth in each group (4.5 points) was the lowest since EURO '96, the first to feature 16 teams. Only Spain have recorded three victories in Germany.

The matches themselves are increasingly tight, too. The average margin of victory at EURO 2024 so far has been just 1.03 goals – the joint-lowest since 1992 and well down on the 1.46 average margin of victory seen at EURO 2008.

Ukraine, who – like Georgia – qualified through the UEFA Nations League, were unfortunate to miss out on the knockout stage in a group where, for the first time in EURO history, all four teams finished on the same points total.

A level playing field

The expansion of the EURO has contributed to UEFA's continuing aim to increase the competitiveness of the whole of European football.

The introduction of the Nations League not only offers a new route to qualify for the EURO but provides the regular competitive matches that some of Europe's smaller footballing nations have historically struggled to come by, and which are crucial for facilitating improvement and driving interest. Georgia's current EURO 2024 success is the latest step in a period of development in which the Nations League has played a significant role.

Providing financial support is another means of strengthening the European game. Following the culmination of the EURO, around two-thirds of the revenue generated by the tournament will be redistributed between all 55 of UEFA's member associations to be put towards football development on and off the pitch.