| PATH [A] | SF1 | POLAND | 5-1 | ESTONIA | Warsaw |
| Frankowski 22, Zielinski 50 Piotrowski 70, Mets 73og Szymanski 76 | Vetkal 78 | ||||
| SF2 | WALES | 4-1 | FINLAND | Cardiff | |
| Brooks 3, N Williams 38 Johnson 47, James 86 | Pukki 45 | ||||
| FINAL | WALES | 0-0 | POLAND | Cardiff | |
| aet | won 5-4 on penalties |
POLAND crushed Welsh dreams of a third successive European Championship finals - and fourth major finals out of five - by winning their playoff final on penalties after a 0-0 draw.
Leeds United winger Daniel James sat his kick up at a good height to the right of Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, as the teams were finally separated after over two hours of stalemate.
There had, after all, been precious little between the sides in the match itself.
Poland failed even to record a single effort on target across the 120 minutes - although Wales also struggled to make clearcut openings.
Indeed, in failing at any stage to build up a significant head of steam, Robert Page's men probably did not make the most of an expectant full house at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Stand-in skipper Ben Davies thought he had headed the hosts into a first half lead but was adjudged narrowly offside - while, early in the second half, Kieffer Moore forced Szczesny into a full-stretch save.
In the extra time period, though, Page's men were persistently pushed back and Jakub Piotrowski thought he had won it for Poland with a 25-yard shot which curled just wide.
A first ever competitive penalty shootout featuring Wales fast became an inevitability - and both teams had obviously been practicing for this eventuality.
Robert Lewandowski, Sebastian Szymanski, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Nicola Zalewski and Krzysztof Piatek all converted for Poland - while Ben Davies, Moore, Harry Wilson and Neco Williams scored the first four Welsh kicks.
But, with the score in the shootout at 5-4 to Poland, James - looking understandably nervous - took the long march from the halfway line to the penalty area.
In fairness to James, it was more than a mere tentative prod at goal - but the direction of his effort was rather telegraphed and Szczesny's save was enough to settle this tightest of contests.
Earlier, both Poland and Wales had dealt with Finland and Estonia easily in their respective home semi finals.
The Poles unsurprisingly prevailed 5-1 in Warsaw against Estonia who were only in this tie by virtue of being the best-ranked team on the lowest rung of the Nations League.
Meanwhile, Wales beat the Finns 4-1 in Cardiff, leading from as early as the third minute when David Brooks slammed in a rebound from Wilson's shot.
The Welsh looked to be on easy street when Neco Williams thumped in a free-kick tapped to him by Wilson - but Teemu Pukki took advantage of some sleepy defending to keep it interesting at the interval.
Straight after the restart, though, Tottenham Hotspur forward Brennan Johnson restored the two-goal lead after poaching from close range.
Cymru then had countless chances to put the tie to bed before James did just that by racing through and taking advantage of a dreadful mistake by the Finnish defender.
Certainly then, it has been a rollercoaster few days for the 26-year-old with the period finishing on a rather big dip.
James, though, still has plenty to play for this season with his club side Leeds at the top of the Championship heading into the run-in.
Head coach Page can also look ahead to the next campaign having been assured by Football Association of Wales bosses that his position is not in doubt.
However, for Poland, a summer adventure now awaits with matches in neighbouring Germany against Netherlands in Hamburg on Sunday 16 June (2pm), Austria in Berlin on Friday 21 June (5pm), and France in Dortmund on Tuesday 25 June (5pm).
| PATH [B] | SF1 | ISRAEL | 1-4 | ICELAND | Budapest |
| Zahavi 31pen | Gudmundsson 39, 83, 87 Traustason 42 | ||||
| SF2 | BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA | 1-2 | UKRAINE | Zenica | |
| Matvienko 56og | Yaremchuk 85, Dovbyk 88 | ||||
| FINAL | UKRAINE | 2-1 | ICELAND | Wroclaw | |
| Tsygankov 54, Mudryk 84 | Gudmundsson 30 |
UKRAINE provided a rare good news story for its war-weary public by becoming the comeback kids of this playoff competition to qualify for a fourth successive European Championship.
Trailing 1-0 in both the semi final away to Bosnia-Herzegovina and in the final against Iceland, the Ukrainians turned both ties around to win 2-1.
The comeback in the semi final was particularly dramatic - Serhiy Rebrov's men were trailing right up until the 85th-minute when Roman Yaremchuk pulled Ukraine back level.
But, for good measure, the visitors stunned the home crowd again three minutes later as Artem Dovbyk headed in the winner.
It was tough on the Bosnians who were looking to qualify for a first European Championship finals since gaining their hard-won independence in the 1990s - although the Dragons did appear at the 2014 World Cup.
However, Ukraine themselves had suffered late devastation in the qualifying group when they were denied what looked like a clear last-minute penalty in their final game against Italy which, if scored, would have put them through.
By now, the momentum was back with the Ukrainians - although the ongoing invasion by Vladimir Putin's pariah state Russia forced their "home" final to be hosted in the Polish city of Wroclaw.
Moreover, Iceland refused to read the script - and, on 30 minutes, the in-form forward Albert Gudmundsson worked some space for himself and hit a thumping shot into the corner from just outside of the D.
Ukraine had another comeback mission to complete - and they quickly responded with a barrage of shots including an effort from Yaremchuk which was correctly ruled offside.
But, early in the second half, an equaliser did arrive as Viktor Tsyhankov cut inside from the right and neatly found the bottom left corner.
The tie was in the balance as the clock wound down and Gudmundsson - who hit a hat-trick in the 4-1 semi final thumping of Israel - shot narrowly wide.
With just over five minutes left, though, Mykhailo Mudryk made his effort count, finding exactly the same spot of the net as Tsyhankov had earlier.
Ukraine were going through to the finals after all, having been in any case probably unluckiest of all the teams to end up in the playoffs.
Indeed, a talented set of players should be competitive this summer in Group E against Romania in Munich on Monday 17 June (2pm), Slovakia in Düsseldorf on Friday 21 June (2pm) and Belgium in Stuttgart on Wednesday 26 June (5pm).
| PATH [C] | SF1 | GEORGIA | 2-0 | LUXEMBOURG | Tblisi |
| Zivzivadze 40, 63 | |||||
| SF2 | GREECE | 5-0 | KAZAKHSTAN | Athens | |
| Bakasetas 9pen, Pelkas 15 Ioannidis 37, Kourbelis 40 Tapalov 86og | |||||
| FINAL | GEORGIA | 0-0 | GREECE | Tblisi | |
| won 4-2 on penalties | aet |
GEORGIA qualified for their first ever major tournament finals by shocking Greece on penalties amid a red-hot atmosphere in Tblisi.
In another largely chanceless encounter, Euro 2004 winners Greece dominated possession and came closest to scoring when West Ham United defender Konstantinos Mavropanos hit the bar with a powerful header in the first part of extra time.
That was swiftly followed by the closest effort to a goal from Georgia as Georges Mikautadze breached the offside trap and set up Zuriko Davitashvili.
Otherwise, the most notable moment until the penalty shootout came on the stroke of half time when a series of tetchy fouls resulted in members from both benches storming onto the pitch.
Onto penalties - and Greece made a nightmare start to the shootout after Anastasios Bakasetas had his effort saved.
And so, Georgia - kicking first - went 2-0 up through Giorgi Kochorashvili and Davitashvili before Georgios Masouras got Greece on the board.
That seemed enough to unnerve Mikautadze who missed the target altogether before Andreas Bouchalakis brought Hellas level at 2-2 from three kicks.
But the Georgians restored their lead through Lasha Dvali and, after striker Georgios Giakoumakis had rolled his penalty wide, all Nikoloz Kvekveskiri needed to do was keep his cool.
Kvekveskiri obliged to send the crowd at the Boris Paitchadze National Stadium into a wild frenzy with hundreds of fans bounding onto the pitch in joyous celebration.
Earlier, Georgia ended Luxembourg's own dreams of a first major finals appearance after the Luxembourgers belied their minnow status in the Nations League - while also giving a good showing in their qualifying group.
A keenly contested semi final turned on a mad sequence of events early in the second half. First, Georgia were denied a penalty by Spanish referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez then Gerson Rodrigues scored what appeared to be an equaliser for Luxembourg.
However, the Video Assistant Referee intervened and - fully three minutes after Rodrigues had hit the net - the officials ruled that Mikautadze had been brought down by Maxime Chanot.
The offence was deemed to have occurred outside of the box - but, as last man, Chanot was sent off. Play restarted with the resultant free-kick to Georgia while the Luxembourg equaliser was ruled out.
Unsurprisingly, a deflated and shorthanded Luxembourg struggled to mount much of a comeback after that - and Budu Zivzivadze soon scored his second of the game to put the tie out of reach.
In the other semi final, Greece thumped Kazakhstan - another side without any previous tournament experience - putting the tie in Athens beyond any doubt with a 4-0 lead at the interval before going on to win 5-0.
The Greeks, though, failed to carry through that goalscoring form to the final against the most talented all-round Georgian outfit since their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
As such, Georgia will take on neighbours Turkey in Dortmund on Tuesday 18 June (5pm), Czech Republic in Hamburg on Saturday 22 June (2pm), and Portugal in Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday 26 June (8pm).
(Q) POLAND [A], UKRAINE [B] and GEORGIA [C] qualified for Euro 2024 via the playoffs
| GROUP A | GROUP B | GROUP C | GROUP D |
| [A1] GERMANY | [B1] SPAIN | [C1] SLOVENIA | [D1] POLAND |
| [A2] SCOTLAND | [B2] CROATIA | [C2] DENMARK | [D2] NETHERLANDS |
| [A3] HUNGARY | [B3] ITALY | [C3] SERBIA | [D3] AUSTRIA |
| [A4] SWITZERLAND | [B4] ALBANIA | [C4] ENGLAND | [D4] FRANCE |
| GROUP E | GROUP F | ||
| [E1] BELGIUM | [F1] TURKEY | ||
| [E2] SLOVAKIA | [F2] GEORGIA | ||
| [E3] ROMANIA | [F3] PORTUGAL | ||
| [E4] UKRAINE | [F4] CZECH REP |
GROUP A
| 14-June | (8pm) | GERMANY v SCOTLAND | Munich ITV |
| 15-June | (2pm) | HUNGARY v SWITZERLAND | Cologne ITV |
| 19-June | (5pm) | GERMANY v HUNGARY | Stuttgart BBC |
| 19-June | (8pm) | SCOTLAND v SWITZERLAND | Cologne BBC |
| 23-June | (8pm) | SWITZERLAND v GERMANY | Frankfurt BBC |
| 23-June | (8pm) | SCOTLAND v HUNGARY | Stuttgart BBC |
GROUP B
| 15-June | (5pm) | SPAIN v CROATIA | Berlin ITV |
| 15-June | (8pm) | ITALY v ALBANIA | Dortmund BBC |
| 19-June | (2pm) | CROATIA v ALBANIA | Hamburg ITV |
| 20-June | (8pm) | SPAIN v ITALY | Gelsenkirchen ITV |
| 24-June | (8pm) | ALBANIA v SPAIN | Dusseldorf BBC |
| 24-June | (8pm) | CROATIA v ITALY | Leipzig BBC |
GROUP C
| 16-June | (5pm) | SLOVENIA v DENMARK | Stuttgart ITV |
| 16-June | (8pm) | SERBIA v ENGLAND | Gelsenkirchen BBC |
| 20-June | (2pm) | SLOVENIA v SERBIA | Munich ITV |
| 20-June | (5pm) | DENMARK v ENGLAND | Frankfurt BBC |
| 25-June | (8pm) | ENGLAND v SLOVENIA | Cologne ITV |
| 25-June | (8pm) | DENMARK v SERBIA | Munich ITV |
GROUP D
| 16-June | (2pm) | POLAND v NETHERLANDS | Hamburg BBC |
| 17-June | (8pm) | AUSTRIA v FRANCE | Dusseldorf ITV |
| 21-June | (5pm) | POLAND v AUSTRIA | Berlin ITV |
| 21-June | (8pm) | NETHERLANDS v FRANCE | Leipzig BBC |
| 25-June | (5pm) | NETHERLANDS v AUSTRIA | Berlin BBC |
| 25-June | (5pm) | FRANCE v POLAND | Dortmund BBC |
GROUP E
| 17-June | (2pm) | ROMANIA v UKRAINE | Munich BBC |
| 17-June | (5pm) | BELGIUM v SLOVAKIA | Frankfurt ITV |
| 21-June | (2pm) | SLOVAKIA v UKRAINE | Dusseldorf BBC |
| 22-June | (8pm) | BELGIUM v ROMANIA | Cologne ITV |
| 26-June | (5pm) | SLOVAKIA v ROMANIA | Frankfurt BBC |
| 26-June | (5pm) | UKRAINE v BELGIUM | Stuttgart BBC |
GROUP F
| 18-June | (5pm) | TURKEY v GEORGIA | Dortmund BBC |
| 18-June | (8pm) | PORTUGAL v CZECH REPUBLIC | Leipzig BBC |
| 22-June | (2pm) | GEORGIA v CZECH REPUBLIC | Hamburg BBC |
| 22-June | (5pm) | TURKEY v PORTUGAL | Dortmund ITV |
| 26-June | (8pm) | GEORGIA v PORTUGAL | Gelsenkirchen ITV |
| 26-June | (8pm) | CZECH REPUBLIC v TURKEY | Hamburg ITV |
LAST 16
| 29-June | (5pm) | [38] RUNNER-UP A v RUNNER-UP B | Berlin |
| 29-June | (8pm) | [37] WINNER A v RUNNER-UP C | Dortmund |
| 30-June | (5pm) | [40] WINNER C v THIRD PLACE D/E/F | Gelsenkirchen |
| 30-June | (8pm) | [39] WINNER B v THIRD PLACE A/D/E/F | Cologne |
| 01-July | (5pm) | [42] RUNNER-UP D v RUNNER-UP E | Dusseldorf |
| 01-July | (8pm) | [41] WINNER F v THIRD PLACE A/B/C | Frankfurt |
| 02-July | (5pm) | [43] WINNER E v THIRD PLACE A/B/C/D | Munich |
| 02-July | (8pm) | [44] WINNER D v RUNNER-UP F | Leipzig |
QUARTER FINALS
| 05-July | (5pm) | (45) WINNER [39] v WINNER [37] | Stuttgart |
| 05-July | (8pm) | (46) WINNER [41] v WINNER [42] | Hamburg |
| 06-July | (5pm) | (48) WINNER [40] v WINNER [38] | Dusseldorf |
| 06-July | (8pm) | (47) WINNER [43] v WINNER [44] | Berlin |
SEMI FINALS
| 09-July | (8pm) | WINNER (45) v WINNER (46) | Munich |
| 10-July | (8pm) | WINNER (47) v WINNER (48) | Dortmund |
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