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Looking at the FIFA rankings prior to the tournament, these were the FIFA rankings of all sides in Euro 2020, where the rankings given are for UEFA countries only.
1 Belgium
2 France
3 England
4 Portugal
5 Spain
6 Italy
7 Denmark
8 Germany
9 Switzerland
10 Croatia
11 Netherlands
12 Wales
13 Sweden
14 Poland
15 Austria
16 Ukraine
18 Turkey
19 Slovakia
20 Hungary
21 Russia
22 Czech Republic
25 Scotland
30 Finland
32 North Macedonia
It's perhaps not too much of a surprise that 21 of the top 24 European countries made the championship. Serbia (17th), Norway and Romania (23rd and 24th) missed out.
You'd expect most of the top 16 UEFA countries to make the last 16 and this is what has very nearly happened. The only top 16 country to miss out was Poland, with only the Czech Republic making the last 16 as a country outside the top 16 (though they're heading in that direction).
2nd place in our group was a decent achievement given that we were ranked 3rd in the group from our FIFA rankings. Turkey were also the highest non top 16 UEFA side in the rankings. However, 12th in the rankings and 12 top 2 sides from 6 groups suggest second wasn't beyond us. Had we finished 3rd, it would have been the joint 2nd best 3rd place finish, so in terms of rankings, we achieved roughly what we might have expected due to the rankings.
One way of looking at how tough each group was would be to consider the average UEFA ranking of the 4 countries in each. This is how they compare:
F - 8.5
A - 11.25
E - 12.75
B - 14.75
D - 15
C - 18.5
To finish 2nd in the second toughest group (according to the rankings) is a greater achievement.
In the last 16, the higher ranked side has won 3 of the 4 games so far. The only exception is the Kingdom of the Netherlands, who are ranked 11th in UEFA. Defeat to Denmark was not a surprise based on the rankings. England vs Germany is the only last 16 tie left to feature two top 8 sides, while Sweden vs Ukraine is the only one left not to feature any top 8 sides.
In other words, reaching the last 16 should have been the minimum requirement - anything more would have been a bonus. We managed that.
Of course this doesn't take into account relative sizes of countries, where we've massively over achieved in recent years. I think our achievement is to have been one of the better footballing countries in Europe for a few years now and hopefully the future continues to be bright for a few more years yet.
1 Belgium
2 France
3 England
4 Portugal
5 Spain
6 Italy
7 Denmark
8 Germany
9 Switzerland
10 Croatia
11 Netherlands
12 Wales
13 Sweden
14 Poland
15 Austria
16 Ukraine
18 Turkey
19 Slovakia
20 Hungary
21 Russia
22 Czech Republic
25 Scotland
30 Finland
32 North Macedonia
It's perhaps not too much of a surprise that 21 of the top 24 European countries made the championship. Serbia (17th), Norway and Romania (23rd and 24th) missed out.
You'd expect most of the top 16 UEFA countries to make the last 16 and this is what has very nearly happened. The only top 16 country to miss out was Poland, with only the Czech Republic making the last 16 as a country outside the top 16 (though they're heading in that direction).
2nd place in our group was a decent achievement given that we were ranked 3rd in the group from our FIFA rankings. Turkey were also the highest non top 16 UEFA side in the rankings. However, 12th in the rankings and 12 top 2 sides from 6 groups suggest second wasn't beyond us. Had we finished 3rd, it would have been the joint 2nd best 3rd place finish, so in terms of rankings, we achieved roughly what we might have expected due to the rankings.
One way of looking at how tough each group was would be to consider the average UEFA ranking of the 4 countries in each. This is how they compare:
F - 8.5
A - 11.25
E - 12.75
B - 14.75
D - 15
C - 18.5
To finish 2nd in the second toughest group (according to the rankings) is a greater achievement.
In the last 16, the higher ranked side has won 3 of the 4 games so far. The only exception is the Kingdom of the Netherlands, who are ranked 11th in UEFA. Defeat to Denmark was not a surprise based on the rankings. England vs Germany is the only last 16 tie left to feature two top 8 sides, while Sweden vs Ukraine is the only one left not to feature any top 8 sides.
In other words, reaching the last 16 should have been the minimum requirement - anything more would have been a bonus. We managed that.
Of course this doesn't take into account relative sizes of countries, where we've massively over achieved in recent years. I think our achievement is to have been one of the better footballing countries in Europe for a few years now and hopefully the future continues to be bright for a few more years yet.
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