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Spotlight on Cyprus: One key beneficiary of the new Euro format

By on November 17, 2014

Cyprus’ national team have already won three times the number of points they achieved in their failed qualifying campaign for Euro 2012, and in just half the matches this time around. Certainly some of this may be luck – their 5-0 win over the hapless Andorra also contributed – but the boost to their hopes of qualifying are undeniable.  They beat Bosnia-Herzegovina in September, and while they have an arguably easier group for 2016, the new Euro format has given them hope.  Last time around, they failed to beat Iceland or Norway in two tries a piece, yet this time, they will face a world-class Belgium squad in their next Euro qualifier, clearly a bigger challenge than Iceland and Norway was.  Furthermore, Cyprus will be ahead of Belgium in the group table when the two nations meet.  Belgium have underperformed this year, and have a game in hand, though this hardly undermines Cyprus’ achievement after four games. Cyprus have grown since their last campaign, but again, that doesn’t undermine the hope they have been given from the Euro finals expansion to 24 teams.

Cyprus isn’t the only team to benefit in such a way. Above them in Group B are Israel and Wales, while in Group A Iceland recently beat the Netherlands and sit three points above them after four matches.  These are the key beneficiaries, in my view, of the expanded tournament, not the small fish such as Andorra and Gilbratar.  Teams who already were likely qualifiers, such as Greece, may be modestly harmed by a potential lack of focus in the group stage, thinking that they started all but in finals already.  Greece are bottom of a Group F containing Faroe Islands, Hungary, Romania, Northern Ireland, and Finland – what should be a very manageable group.  Russia are also struggling with just one win out of four matches, as are Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Belgium as well, though that may be not simply due to a lack of fire in their bellies.  For the best in Europe the path is safe, but even here, sluggish starts from Germany and the Netherlands could also be attributed to a lack of urgency.

On the whole, the squads on the bubble such as Cyprus are gaining focus and it is showing in the play, while for the top sides, in reality international friendlies could prove more helpful than many group stage matches over the next year.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.