Day 12 of UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany on Tuesday saw the conclusion of Groups C and D with a wild tiebreaker coming into play. Group C was devoid of goals as all the teams played to scoreless draws but Denmark will come away as the biggest winners. Due to being tied on goal difference with Slovenia, the tiebreaker was yellow cards. Denmark only picked up six yellows while Slovenia collected their seventh in the 72nd minute against England to see Denmark finish second while Slovenia finished third. These results also eliminate Croatia from being able to finish as a top-four third-placed team. While Denmark will be thrilled to go through, finished second comes with a meeting against hosts Germany on Saturday.
In Group D, the pre-tournament favorites France ultimately advanced but they didn't win their group, unlike Gareth Southgate's England side who won Group C after a draw with Slovenia. Kylian Mbappe returned to lead Les Bleus with his first tournament goal against eliminated Poland, but few had Austria down as topping the group after beating the Netherlands and sending Oranje into the third-placed position. Ralf Rangnick's men made the most of the French draw with the Poles to sneak top spot which means that the knockout phase already has a tougher third-placed side making the draw exciting.
This is how it all unfolded:
Euro 2024 scores for Tuesday
France 1, Poland 1
Netherlands 2, Austria 3
Denmark 0, Serbia 0
England 0, Slovenia 0
Group C
| TEAM | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Denmark | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Slovenia | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Serbia | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
England 0, Slovenia 0: England wins the group
Well, this isn't how Gareth Southgate drew it up. The Three Lions yet again struggled to play a cohesive game even with Trent Alexander-Arnold replaced in midfield by Conor Gallagher. Jordan Pickford had an easy day in net only facing one shot on target from Slovenia but Harry Kane and Phil Foden took eight shots between them only putting one on target. Only scoring two goals in the group stage of Euros, something needs to be done about the team's balance heading into the knockouts if this team wants to advance to the final.
Denmark 0, Serbia 0: Denmark second on tiebreakers
It was another game without a goal as Aleksandar Mitrovic had the best chances, seeing a goal called back. Denmark managed the game but their reward is a clash with Germany in the round of 16 which will be quite a tough challenge. Christian Eriksen was excellent yet again but Denmark needs to get their strikers firing, scoring two goals in 270 minutes.
Group D
| TEAM | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 6 |
| France | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Poland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
Netherlands 2, Austria 3: Austrians top!
Few predicted a five-goal thriller in Berlin but that is exactly what played out at Olympiastadion as Austria came out on top of the Netherlands in a result which shocked Group D. An early Donyell Malen own goal put Rangnick's side ahead at half time, only for Cody Gakpo to equalize early in the second half after being teed up by Xavi Simons. The Austrians went back in front 12 minutes later through Romano Schmid after Florian Grillitsch's assist, but it looked as if Memphis Depay had saved Oranje 15 minutes from time after Wout Weghorst provided the opening. Incredibly, Marcel Sabitzer put Austria back in front just five minutes later from Christophe Baumgartner's assist to confirm the Austrians as one of the Euro's most prolific sides on six goals along with a famous top spot in Group D.
France 1, Poland 1: Mbappe returns with goal
Finally, at the third time of asking, this Euro finally has a Kylian Mbappe goal and a goal actually scored by a French player after Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Poland. It needed a second half penalty won by Ousmane Dembele and a handful of changes from Didier Deschamps including Antoine Griezmann's omission but Les Bleus picked up their second goal from three games but missed out on a third clean sheet from three possible. It was another frustrating outing in Dortmund with the French creating far more than they scored and then getting denied by Robert Lewandowski's retaken penalty, but Mbappe ultimately returned to lead his nation to the round of 16 in second behind the Netherlands -- albeit not in top spot.