Group C is one of the most intriguing groups in Euro 2020. It has only two teams – Ukraine and Austria – that featured in the 2016 edition. Former Champions Netherlands have failed to qualify for major competitions since the 2014 World Cup, while North Macedonia will be making their debut in Euros.
Ukraine, who grabbed a draw against World Champions France in March, had an outstanding campaign in the Euro 2020 qualifiers. Andriy Shevchenko’s men picked up six wins from their eight games and finished above Portugal. Netherlands, too, were impressive in the qualification round. They claimed a victory against Germany and picked up 19 points from an available 24.
After emerging champions in the Group 1 of the ongoing UEFA Nations League B, Austria will be hoping to put their best foot forward in Euro 2020. The Julian Baumgartlinger-led team lost their opening two games in the qualifiers, but a seven-game unbeaten run helped them secure the second spot behind Poland.
North Macedonia qualified for their first-ever major international tournament via playoffs. They pipped Slovenia to third place in Group G. In the playoffs, Macedonia beat Kosovo in the last four, and Goran Pandev’s second-half winner in the final against Georgia secured a Euro 2020 ticket.
Pundits have predicted Netherlands to grab the top spot in Group C, while Ukraine and Austria could lock horns for a second-place finish. Both teams failed to make it out of the group stage in the 2016 edition. North Macedonia is likely to end up bottom of the points table but will be hoping to give the three sides a run for their money.
UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifiers Stats
Goals scored/conceded
Austria – 19/9
Netherlands – 24/7
North Macedonia – 15/14
Ukraine – 17/4
Top goalscorers
Austria – Marko Arnautovic (6 goals)
Netherlands – Georginio Wijnaldum (8 goals)
North Macedonia – Eljif Elmas (4 goals)
Ukraine – Roman Yaremchuk (4 goals)
Euro 2020 Squads
Austria
Goalkeepers: Daniel Bachmann, Pavao Pervan, Alexander Schlager
Defenders: David Alaba, Marco Friedl, Aleksandar Dragovic, Martin Hinteregger, Stefan Lainer, Philipp Lienhart, Stefan Posch, Andreas Ulmer
Midfielders: Konrad Laimer, Valentino Lazaro, Marcel Sabitzer, Julian Baumgartlinger, Christopher Trimmel, Christoph Baumgartner, Florian Grillitsch, Stefan Ilsanker, Karim Onisiwo, Louis Schaub, Xaver Schlager, Alessandro Schopf
Forwards: Marko Arnautovic, Michael Gregoritsch, Sasa Kalajdzic
Netherlands
Goalkeepers: Maarten Stekelenburg, Tim Krul, Marco Bizot
Defenders: Matthijs de Ligt, Patrick van Aanholt, Daley Blind, Joel Veltman, Nathan Ake, Stefan de Vrij, Denzel Dumfries, Owen Wijndal
Midfielders: Frenkie de Jong, Georginio Wijnaldum, Davy Klaassen, Marten de Roon, Ryan Gravenberch, Teun Koopmeiners, Quincy Promes, Jurrien Timber
Forwards: Memphis Depay, Luuk de Jong, Steven Berghuis, Cody Gakpo, Donyell Malen, Wout Weghorst
North Macedonia
Goalkeepers: Stole Dimitrievski, Risto Jankov, Damjan Siskovski
Defenders: Egzijan Alioski, Stefan Ristovski, Egzon Bejtulai, Visar Musliu, Kire Ristevski, Darko Velkovski, Gjoko Zajkov
Midfielders: Enis Bardi, Darko Churlinov, Eljif Elmas, Arijan Ademi, Feran Hasani, Tihomir Kostadinov, Boban Nikolov, Milan Ristovski, Stefan Spirovski
Forwards: Goran Pandev, Daniel Avramovski, Marjan Radeski, Vlatko Stojanovski, Aleksandar Trajkovski, Ivan Trickovski, Krste Velkovski
Ukraine
Goalkeepers: Georgiy Bushchan, Andriy Pyatov, Anatolii Trubin
Defenders: Oleksandr Zinchenko, Oleksandr Karavaev, Serhiy Kryvtsov, Mykola Matviyenko, Vitaliy Mykolenko, Denys Popov, Eduard Sobol, Oleksandr Tymchyk, Illia Zabarnyi
Midfielders: Ruslan Malinovskyi, Roman Bezus, Yevhen Makarenko, Marlos, Mykola Shaparenko, Taras Stepanenko, Heorhii Sudakov, Serhiy Sydorchuk, Viktor Tsygankov
Forwards: Andriy Yarmolenko, Artem Besedin, Artem Dovbyk, Roman Yaremchuk, Oleksandr Zubkov
Group C Fixtures
Date |
Match |
Timing (IST) |
June 13 |
Austria vs North Macedonia |
9:30 PM |
June 14 |
Netherlands vs Ukraine |
12:30 AM |
June 17 |
Ukraine vs North Macedonia |
6:30 PM |
June 18 |
Netherlands vs Austria |
12:30 AM |
June 21 |
Ukraine vs Austria |
9:30 PM |
June 21 |
North Macedonia vs Netherlands |
9:30 PM |
*IST: Indian Standard Time