According to UEFA regulations, the Norwegians of Erling Haaland, Manchester City’s star striker, can no longer hope to take part in the 2024 European Championship in Germany beyond the play-offs.
Third in qualifying Group A behind Spain and Scotland, who have confirmed their ticket to the tournament (June 14-July 14), Norway has also been eliminated from participation in the play-offs, which pit the best-placed teams in the last Nations League are reserved (2022-2023).
The selection of Haaland and Martin Odegaard is only the fourth-best runner-up in Path B of this competition and can no longer be among the four teams drafted: Israel, Bosnia and two teams between Finland, Iceland and Ukraine – the latter nation can still qualify directly if you beat Italy on Monday.
Norway has not taken part in an international competition since Euro 2000.
Two thirds (16 out of 24) of the qualified countries are now known for the 2024 edition. Five more tickets will be distributed by the end of the group stage on Tuesday.
The final three will be among the twelve nations nominated for the play-offs next March. We already know the identity of seven of them: Bosnia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Luxembourg and the Poland of FC Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski.