The fate of promotion to Euro 2024 in group G hung in the balance until the last minutes of the last round. Before Sunday’s matches, the Hungarians were sure of advancing (15 points), while the Serbs (13 points) and Montenegrins (11 points) fought for second place.
In the 8th round, the Serbs faced the Bulgarians (3 points), and the Hungarians took on Montenegro. After an hour of play, the Serbs drew 1-1. and the Montenegrins were leading 1-0 against the group leaders. Serb fans froze for a moment because of this results would reward the Montenegrins with promotion. But in the 67th and 68th minutes Dominik Szoboszlai scored, thanks to which the Hungarians finally won 3-1, because A. Nagy added a goal in added time.
However, the match between Serbs and Bulgarians ended in a 2-2 draw, thanks to which the Serbs advanced from second place.
Group G table: :
- Hungary – 18 points, goals 15:7
- Serbia – 14 points, goals 15:9
- Montenegro – 11 points, goals 9:10
- Lithuania – 6 points, goals 8:14
- Bulgaria – 4 points, goals 7:14
The Serbs will play at the European Championships for the first time. I mean, they played once in 2000 as representatives of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and reached the quarterfinals. In the 21st century, the Serbs played as many as four times World Cup.
In 2006 as Serbia and Montenegro, and as Serbia they competed in 2010, 2018 and 2022. Each time, experts predicted that Serbia might turn out to be a dark horse tournament, but although there was no shortage of recognized players in their squad, they were often a patchwork of individuals and lacked a team. There were also frequent complaints about the atmosphere in the team. Ultimately, they never left the group.
Serbia full of stars
Transfermarkt values the current Serb squad at 300 million euro, which is almost 100 million more than Poland. Dragan Stojkovic’s team has no shortage of stars. Especially in attack, where Dusan Vlahović from Juventus and Aleksandar Mitrović from Al-Hilal play.
It is also worth mentioning another player of the Saudi club, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. Serbian opponents must also watch out for Strahinja Pavlovic from Red Bull Salzburg, Filip Kostic from Juventus, Lazar Samardzic from Udinese, Dusan Tadić from Ajax or Filip Mladenovic, a former Legia player. who currently represents Panathinaikos Athens.
