The UEFA Euro Championship always attracts a lot of attention and interest, but when you have a first-time team competing, it is always going to produce some amazing games. For the Euro 2020, the Finnish team has qualified for the first time. How might they fare as they take to the tournament for the first time? Let's take a look!
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Advancing to the Tournament
The Finns qualified for the tournament following a 3-0 win over Liechtenstein in November 2019. This was a historic win for them, and something that even the wider country could not believe was happening.They had previously tried an amazing 32 times to qualify for either the Euros or the FIFA World Cup. Their win here ended this run and introduced them to the Euros for the first time. Celebrations continued for a long time after, and some have even jokingly called for the 15th – the day they qualified – to become a national holiday in Finland.
A Close Group Stage
The group stage is always an interesting stage to watch, regardless of the team that will be playing. Depending on where the teams land, we could see some of the biggest teams and previous champions get knocked clean out. In other areas, you can see the underdogs, like Finland could be, really rise to the occasion and fight to stay in the competition.Their group stage should prove to be particularly fun to watch, so you should make sure you follow along with all the updates here. They have drawn Denmark, Belgium, and Russia in their group stage. All of these are formidable opponents, and it should give the Finns a great chance to showcase the skills that have got them this far in the competition.
Could They Make It Out the Group Stage?
Of course, everything is to play for in the opening stages, and there could be some upsets. Belgium will no doubt be the clear winner of the group. They are a phenomenal team, and they are riding off placing third at the last World Cup.The second and third places will then be hotly contested by everyone. Russia and Denmark do have their good days when they can prove that they are brilliant teams. However, Finland should be able to give them great games where we can expect some amazing football to play out.
What are Finland's Chances?
There is a chance that Finland could reasonably land themselves in the third place in the group. This then means that they could advance to the next round depending on how they match up to the other third-placed teams across the other groups.Finland have more than a fighting chance going into the rounds, and they are clearly eager to show European football what they can do. This drive should help to push them further, and hopefully perform well as the matches play out. The matches get started in June, so make sure you tune in and catch a few where you can!
