Romania defeats Switzerland and finishes first place in Group I for EURO 2024
Romania’s football team defeated Switzerland 1-0 in a match held at the National Arena in Bucharest on November 21. The winning goal was scored by Denis Alibec.
Romania had already qualified for the UEFA EURO 2024 championship after beating Israel, but now finished the group stage as winners of Group I.
Romania finished the group stage undefeated and is set to be in the second seed pot for the draw on December 2 for the groups of the final tournament in Germany. As a result, the Romanian team may face off against Hungary, Turkey, Denmark, Albania, or Austria in the championship group stage.
Switzerland dominated the game for the most part, and created goal opportunities but did not manage to score. Romania played a good game and fought until the last drop of energy, fueled by a packed stadium. The first notable chance for Romania came in minute 18. Shortly after, Moldovan saved Okafor's shot from 18 meters, according to Digi24.
Immediately after the break, Stanciu crossed to Morutan on the right, who headed it back in front of the goal, from where Alibec scored. The Swiss team went on the offensive afterward, missing several good goal opportunities.
Both Romania and Switzerland qualified for EURO 2024 on Saturday, when Romania defeated Israel 2-1 in Felcsut (Hungary). The final tournament will take place in Germany between June 14 and July 14, 2024, as reported by Agerpres.
Romania will participate for the sixth time in the final tournament of the European Championship, following the editions of 1984, 1996, 2000, 2008, and 2016.
Romanian politicians were present in the stands at the Romania-Switzerland football match at the National Arena. The president of the Senate, Nicolae Ciucă, attended alongside his son and his counterpart from the Czech Republic, Miloš Vystrčil, who was on a visit to Romania. Prime minister Marcel Ciolacu was also in attendance with party colleagues, the secretary-general of the Social Democratic Party, Paul Stănescu, as well as the minister of transport, Sorin Grindeanu, and the minister of agriculture, Florin Barbu, according to News.ro.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Stefan Constantin)
