Türkiye were drawn into Group F with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, the Czech Republic, and the winner of Playoff C at the UEFA Euro 2024 finals draw in Hamburg, Germany.
Türkiye, who surprisingly topped a tricky qualifying group featuring Croatia and Wales, will be hoping to reverse their fortunes from the past two Euros, where they failed to live up to expectations.
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Portugal, led by their talismanic captain Cristiano Ronaldo, will be looking to repeat their success from Euro 2008, when they topped the group stage that also included Türkiye and the Czech Republic.
The final spot in Group F will be filled by the winner of Playoff C, which will feature one of Greece, Georgia, Kazakhstan, or Luxembourg.
Türkiye national team coach Vincenzo Montella stated that they have no preference in their group and will focus on studying their opponents closely.
He also acknowledged that expectations may be different this time around compared to Euro 2008, when Türkiye entered the draw as a lower-ranked team and surprised everyone.
“When Portugal and the Czech Republic appear in the draw, it may remind us of EURO 2008. However, expectations and many things may be very different this time around,” he said.
“Türkiye entered the EURO 2008 draw from the fourth pot and we all saw what happened in the tournament. So there may be unknown, unexpected and unforeseen things here.”
Montella emphasized the importance of every match in such major tournaments, stating that power differences between teams are often small.
The Turkish national team are undefeated under Montella who has already beat Croatia and Germany away from home.
When asked if Türkiye can secure their first victory over Portugal, Montella simply replied: “Inşallah” (God willing).
Türkiye will begin their Euro 2024 campaign against the winner of Playoff C on June 18.
