On Monday, Portugal secured qualification for Europe 2023 U-21, after Greece’s 3-0 defeat against Cyprus, in Ashnas.
The goals of Katsantonis (27m, penalty kick), Nicolau (73m) and Naoum (83m, penalty kick) awarded the three points to Ioannis Okas’ men, mathematically preventing Greece from taking first place from Portugal in Group D of the qualifiers.
The team led by Rui Jorge, who plays in Liechtenstein at 19:45 on Tuesday, has 22 points in eight matches. Greece holds 17 points, but has only one match, so, at most, they can score only 20 points.
At the same time, the Greeks are still mathematically not assured of second place, giving access to hem qualification. It’s just that Iceland has 12 points and two games less.
News of the qualifiers reached the team led by Rui Jorge during group training this afternoon in Vaduz.
Portugal qualified for the finals in the last edition of the European Under-21 Championship, in 2021, against Germany, who became European champions with a 1-0 victory.
Euro 2023 will be held in Romania and Georgia from June 9 to July 2 next year.
Classification – Group D:
1st: Portugal 22 points / 8 matches
2nd: Greece 9/17
Third: Iceland, 8/12
Fourth place: Belarus, 9/12
Fifth: Cyprus, 9/11
6th: Liechtenstein, 9/0
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