The twenty-four teams competing at this summer’s European Championship are striving to make it into the Round of 16 with the group stage now coming to an end.

The knockout stages of the 2021 Euros will see 16 of the 24 teams advance from the group round. In addition to the top two teams from each of the six groups (12 overall), the four best third-place finishers will also advance to the Round of 16. To keep things simple, we've established a separate standings table (below) for the current third-place clubs that is updated after each match. The lucky four clubs who advance are decided by the following UEFA criteria, in this order:

  1. The majority of points
  2. Superior difference in goals
  3. Most number of goals scored
  4. Most victories
  5. In group stage matches, the team with the fewest disciplinary points wins.
  6. Place in the European Qualifiers overall standings

Yes, finishing third earns you a spot in the knockout stages, but only for four of the top third-placed teams. All of the teams who finish third in their respective group stages at the Euros are placed in a table. And their place in the table is determined first and foremost by the number of points they earned in the group stages.

However, if the teams cannot be separated by points, the team with the greatest goal difference finishes higher on the table. If the standings cannot be determined by points or goal difference, the number of goals scored in the group stages is used. If that does not suffice, the team's UEFA rating comes into play, followed by fair play behavior.

Third-Place Teams (top 4 advance)

  1. Switzerland     
  2. Portugal          
  3. Austria 
  4. Finland 
  5. Spain 
  6. Croatia 

Once we know which four third-place teams will advance, the next stage will be to determine who their opponent in the Round of 16 will be. The Round of 16 matches have already been determined by UEFA based on the groups from which the third-place teams are drawn.