Italy qualify for Euro 2024 as Ukraine denied added-time penalty | OneFootball

Highlights

Italy have booked their place in the European Championships in 2024 after a goalless draw against Ukraine in the final group game of the qualifiers stage on Monday night. The game ended controversially as the home side were denied a last-minute penalty.

Group C of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign was the tightest of all groups with both Ukraine and Italy heading into the final matchday - in which they would face each other - level on both points and goal difference. The winners of the 2020 Euros did head to Ukraine with a slight advantage after the reigning champions won the reverse fixture 2-1. This meant that the home team on the night would need to win the match to book their plane ticket for Germany.

England ended up winning the group comfortably with 20 points as the Three Lions went unbeaten throughout the group stage. Both teams from the 2020 final will now take part in the upcoming tournament after the second controversial refereeing decision of the night in Group C. There had already been a controversial penalty decision in the North Macedonia vs England game, which was the other Group C game on Monday.

Mykhailo Mudryk denied last-gasp penalty against Italy

The game was hanging in the balance all the way until the third of five stoppage-time minutes, when Mykhailo Mudryk raced onto the ball in line with the penalty spot. The Chelsea winger took a very clever touch at speed to ghost past the on-rushing Italian defender Bryan Cristante, who lunged in and appeared to catch Mudryk's trailing leg. Almost all the Ukraine players quickly surrounded the referee pleading their case to be awarded a penalty kick, but the appeals of the players were waved away by the referee.

Arsenal's Oleksandr Zinchenko could be seen fuming at the fourth official at the side of the pitch, as Italian players gestured for Mudryk to get to his feet. While the forward was perhaps a tad dramatic in the aftermath of the challenge as he rolled around for the next minute or so, replays did show there was definite contact between both players' boots.

VAR didn't intervene to overturn the decision made by the on-field official, and thus, Italy were handed their place in the upcoming competition. There is sure to be plenty of debate around the decision in the coming days as Ukraine will now have to go through the play-off round to qualify for the tournament.

Italy join England in the 2024 Euros

As already mentioned, the Italian side heads into the European Championships along with the team they defeated in the final of the 2020 tournament. They were the better side for large parts of the clash against Ukraine, with the visitors enjoying the lion's share of possession on the night as well as having significantly higher expected goals than their opponents, with 1.56, according to FotMob. The importance of the victory over Ukraine on September 12 2023 was elevated even higher, with the last-minute controversy in this fixture proving to be the deciding moment.