{"id":1356958,"date":"2024-06-26T19:15:21","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T18:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1356958"},"modified":"2024-09-01T23:00:34","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01T22:00:34","slug":"euro-2024-group-e-weird-ending-belgium-romania","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/euro-2024-group-e-weird-ending-belgium-romania\/","title":{"rendered":"Weirdest Euros group ever? Belgium limp out of Group E to set up France clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Going into the final round of fixtures, Euro 2024’s Group E was as open as it could be.<\/strong><\/p>\n

All four teams were level on three points, meaning anyone could qualify in any of the three available spots, or finish bottom.<\/p>\n

Romania<\/a> entered top on goals scored, with Belgium<\/a> second. Slovakia<\/a> were third on goal difference, with Ukraine propping up the group.<\/p>\n

So, what went down?<\/p>\n

[dugoutvideo id=”eyJrZXkiOiIiLCJwIjoic3F1YXdrYSIsInBsIjoiS25BVzdIeXgifQ==” partner=”squawka”]<\/p>\n

Belgium’s attack needs work<\/h2>\n

It feels as though this could be said about a lot of bigger nations at Euro 2024, and it has been. But if Belgium are to harbour hopes of winning the tournament, their attack needs to turn up.<\/p>\n

Although they are no longer the Golden Generation, Belgium still have a lot of star names in their squad, not least Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian striker was among those tipped to fight it out for the Euro 2024 Golden Boot, particularly with a group that looked favourable on paper.<\/p>\n

But Lukaku ended the group stage without a goal, despite having 10 shots and seven on target. Against Ukraine alone, Lukaku hit the target with both of his shots, but both were really poor, lacking power and were easily saved.<\/p>\n

It’s a problem that has been shared among the Belgium squad too. They’ve had 47 shots in target with 18 on target, but they’ve scored just two goals from an xG of 4.35. To make it worse, both of those goals came against Ukraine. So, Belgium failed to score in two of their three group stage matches.<\/p>\n

They’ll need to up their attack, now facing a tough France defence in the last 16.<\/p>\n

Romania benefit from another penalty<\/h2>\n

Romania finished top of Group E on goals scored, netting four throughout the Euro 2024 group stage. Three of those came against Ukraine including two wonder strikes as they were having their own Goal of the Tournament competition in their opening game.<\/p>\n

The fourth goal came via the penalty spot in their final game against Slovakia, which helped them come from behind to secure a draw. After Ianis Hagi was fouled by David Hancko, Razvan Marin rifled his penalty home. Four of Romania’s last eight goals at European Championships have come from the spot.<\/p>\n

Since Euro 2016, no team has scored more penalties than Romania’s three, which is impressive when you consider they have only played six matches in that time.<\/p>\n

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For the first time in the nation's history, Romania have finished top of their group at a European Championship tournament. ??#EURO2024<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/jhZSNDjeuS<\/a><\/p>\n

— Squawka (@Squawka) June 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n