Mattia Zaccagni's goal in the final minute of extra time helped four teams qualify for the EURO 2204 group stage.
Mattia Zaccagni's goal is not only meaningful for the Italian team. There were 3 other teams that benefited from the Italian player's shining moment as a substitute.
In the final minute of extra time in the match between Croatia and Italy, receiving a pass from Ricardo Calafiori, Zaccagni scored a high-class one-touch finish to equalize the score 1-1. The goal more valuable than gold helped the Italian team regain 1 point and second place in the group, thereby continuing to the 1/8 round.
Not only that, Zaccagni also accidentally helped 3 teams in other groups have a guaranteed place to continue even though they haven't played the final round yet. Those are England, France and the Netherlands.
In Group A, Hungary ranked 3rd with 3 points and a goal difference of -3. In Group B, the 3rd ranked team is Croatia. The loss in the final minute of extra time left Modric and his teammates with only 2 points. Thus, all teams with 4 points or more will definitely win the right to continue.
In Group C, England played disappointingly but also won 4 points after a lucky victory against Serbia and a draw with Denmark. In Group D, the Netherlands and France both have 4 points and automatically enter the 1/8 round. The third round of matches for these 3 teams is only for determining positions and locking in opponents in the inner round.
As for Croatia and Hungary, they are unlikely to be eliminated. These two teams still have a theoretical chance to advance and will stay in Germany to practice for 2 more days. The Croatia and Hungary teams need to wait for the results in the remaining 4 groups to know whether they will continue or not.
Group F is the group with the most unpredictable situation when all 4 teams have 3 points after the first 2 matches. Even the Belgian team is at great risk of being eliminated. On the contrary, the team ranked 3rd in this group will have many opportunities to win tickets to pass the group stage.
The first match in the 1/8 round has been determined to be a confrontation between the Italian team and the Swiss team.