What if Sweden no longer wants to play the second half against the Red Devils and forfeits? These are the possible consequences

It is a side issue at the moment, but the Red Devils still need points in the European Championship qualifying to win the group and be the seed in the draw. There will be six seeds in the draw for next summer’s European Championships in Germany, which will be contested with 24 teams. One of these is the host country and has therefore already been determined. But the other five seeds will come from the ten qualifying groups. This means that only half of the group winners will also be seed in the summer of 2024: that honor is only reserved for the five group winners with the best results.

© BELGIUM

The Red Devils are currently third among all countries, after Portugal and France. But to secure the top five, the Red Devils still need points, because some pursuers still have three games in hand and others are close on their heels. With three points against Sweden and Azerbaijan, Belgium always remains in the top five. And then they will avoid at least five other top countries in the group stage of the European Championships next year.

However, it is highly uncertain what will happen with the canceled match against Sweden. According to UEFA rules, the second half still has to be completed. Normally on the day after the match, but that is not possible given the situation. The entire Swedish selection has already flown back and some Red Devils players have also left abroad.

© Isosport

Continue playing next international break?

The regulations do say that UEFA must now find another date. In principle, there is no longer a gap in the football calendar: there will be either competition football, cup football, European football or international matches again until the European Championship draw on December 2. On November 15, Belgium will play a friendly match against Serbia, on November 16 Sweden will play a European Championship qualifying match and on November 19, both Sweden and Belgium will play their last qualifying match.

But the UEFA regulations also state that “the new date may involve exceptions to the normal match schedule”. And so, for example, it can be decided that play should continue on, say, Wednesday, November 22, at the end of the next international break. That date seems to us to be the most logical at the moment, because there is still some time before players have to return to their club.

Lump sum means group profit

The sporting situation of course remains what it is: Sweden has already been eliminated and in principle has no reason to continue the match. The Swedes themselves already indicated this. It could therefore be that Sweden decides not to play the match, which was 1-1 at half-time, and then – no matter how strange it would feel – a forfeit victory for the Belgians will follow. In principle, UEFA can impose a sanction on a country that forfeits, but only if that forfeit is not justified. So not an issue in this case.

For Belgium, a forfeit victory would also mean a group win, then Austria – which currently also has 16 points – can no longer overtake Belgium due to the Belgians’ advantage in mutual matches. And if the Red Devils win the remaining match against Azerbaijan, they will certainly be the seed in the European Championship draw. If not, we will have to wait and see what the other top countries do.

Ranking of (provisional) group winners

Because some countries have six in their group, UEFA does not count the results against the last ranked country in those groups. On this basis, this is the provisional ranking of the group winners, although not every country has played the same number of matches. Turkey only has one match left, while England, Hungary and Slovenia still have three more matches to play in the European Championship qualifiers.

1. Portugal 21 **

2. France 18 **

3. Belgium 16 **

4. Turkey 16 *

5. Spain 15 **

6. England 13 ***

7. Hungary 13 ***

8. Albania 13 **

9. Slovenia 10 ***

10. Romania 10 **

*: one match left to play

**: two matches left to play

***: Three games left to play

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