The Red Devils left nothing to chance against Azerbaijan. Thanks to a tremendous performance by Romelu Lukaku, the Belgians have secured first place in the European Championship draw scheduled for 2 December. We already know what those pots will look like.
Pot 1: Germany, Belgium, France, Portugal, England (?), Spain (?)
The Red Devils will end up in a pot with Germany, France and Portugal in the draw in Hamburg. Spain can also guarantee that much if they win tonight, just like England on Monday.
If the bottom two teams continue to lose points, Denmark could still steal a place in the top pot.
Thanks to the victory over Azerbaijan, the Belgians were able to protect themselves from the absolute top match in the group stage. Teams from the same group cannot compete against each other.
Level 2: Denmark, Hungary, Türkiye, Austria…
In Pot 2, we first find the winners of the other group. Denmark and Hungary are already certain of this, and Turkey and Albania are likely to join in as well. Furthermore, Austria, which was in the qualifying group for the Belgians, will likely end up in the second seeding due to its high number of points.
Pot 3: Netherlands, Scotland, Czech Republic, Italy/Ukraine…
The third pot is also filled with teams that finished second in their group. Given the low number of points, it is likely that the Netherlands will end up here, along with Scotland and the Czech Republic, among others. The winner of the tit-for-tat match between Italy and Ukraine is also likely to end up in the third pot.
Pot 4: Switzerland, Serbia, playoff winners
Level 4 is for the 3 worst teams that managed to qualify, plus the winners of the qualifiers. Right now, it looks like Switzerland and Serbia will be among the worst finishers.
The qualifying draw will be held later this week, and seven countries have already been confirmed to participate: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, Finland, Poland, Georgia, Greece and Luxembourg. The loser of the match between Ukraine and Italy will also get a second chance.
Belgium did an excellent job of beating Azerbaijan and avoiding the biggest players in the group stage of the European Championship. Although a group with Denmark, Netherlands and Italy is still possible. Whoever it is, the Belgians will have to work hard in Germany.
