Italy, Switzerland and Norway all had three points and the Azzurrini had a superior overall goal difference, but went out because of the goals scored in the head-to-head records.
The Nazionale are out of the European Under-21 Championship in the opening round, as France top the group on nine points, followed by three sides all on three each.
With this situation, a mini-league is drawn up between the teams on three points each and this too is totally even.
It’s because Italy beat Switzerland 3-2, Switzerland beat Norway 2-1 and Norway beat Italy 1-0, so three points each.
Then it goes down to goal difference and here is where Italy’s dismal second half against the Swiss proved costly.
They had been 3-0 up at the break, but eventually only won 3-2.
That means the goal difference was equal too, but Switzerland went through on more goals scored in that mini-league table: four goals, three for Italy, two for Norway.
Switzerland went through in second place, despite losing 4-1 to France in the last game.
So while overall Italy had a goal difference of -1, as did Norway, and Switzerland -3, that is irrelevant because the results that matter are between these three teams.
Italy were robbed in the first game, but have only themselves to blame subsequently. Shame; they looked like a decent side.
Italy can’t win in 2023 it’s cursed by Reffs and bad luck. Expect Italy to fail Euro 2024 qualification. They also failed Olympic qualification because of this group.
Thanks for the explanation. I was very confused by the final standings but makes perfect sense when you take everybody’s result against France out of the equation.
ihe issues in italy we do not have any good stikers to put balls in the net 50 shots on a net and no goal is a problem too much tecknical and not enough killer instict mancini must go to soft of a coach we are euro doomed england always qulifies with a lot of goals and knows how to kill a game off bring back balotelli strong physical player wich italy does not have