FRANKFURT: A 1-1 draw between Slovakia and Romania on Wednesday sent both sides into the last 16 of Euro 2024, with Romania topping the Group E standings and Slovakia through as one of the four best third-placed sides.
The group was on a knife-edge with all four teams beginning the final day on three points and although a draw would have been enough for both sides, the game was action-packed.
The sides went in level at the break after Ondrej Duda put Slovakia in front with a header from Juraj Kucka’s cross and Romania levelled with a penalty converted by Razvan Marin.
All four sides finished level on four points, but Romania finished top thanks to more goals scored than Belgium who were runners-up, ahead of Slovakia on goal difference. Ukraine ended bottom because of a worse goal difference than Slovakia and exit the tournament.
Romania will face either Slovenia or the Netherlands in the last 16.