Italy n France may face a wooden spoon shoot out

UEFA EURO 2008 GROUP C: FRANCE v ITALY
Date: Tue 17 June Kick-off: 1945 BST Venue: Letzigrund Stadion, Zurich


Italy and France face the unprecedented prospect of a penalty shoot-out to determine who finishes third in Group C if the two sides crash out on Tuesday.

World champions Italy and France face each other in the final Group C match with both almost certainly needing a win if they are to make the last eight.

But if Romania beat Holland, ending the pair's progress hopes, a draw would not separate the teams in the standings.

Therefore, a shoot-out would be played even though both sides would be out.

It would be the first time in tournament history two teams who have been eliminated from a competition would have to play out a penalty shoot-out for the purposes of determing future co-efficient points.

The co-efficient can affect a team's seeding for future international tournaments.

However, it is just one potential scenario in a whole host of permutations from the final round of matches in Group C.

Here, BBC Sport details what could happen...


GROUP C PERMUTATIONS
The Netherlands have won Group C and will play the Group D runners-up in the quarter-finals.

Romania will qualify for the quarter-finals if they beat the Netherlands, eliminating France and Italy.

If Romania fail to beat the Netherlands, the winner of France v Italy will go through.

If France and Italy draw, a point against the Netherlands would be enough to send Romania through. France must win to have any chance of qualifying.

If France and Italy share a score draw (1-1, 2-2, 3-3 etc), Italy will go through if Romania lose (by any score). In this scenario, Italy, Romania and France will be level on two points each but Italy would have scored more goals in games between the 3 teams.

Romania will finish bottom of the group if they lose and France and Italy draw 2-2, 3-3 or 4-4. France will finish bottom if they draw 1-1 unless Romania lose 3-0 or by a four-goal margin.


If France and Italy draw 0-0, Romania can lose by one goal, two goals or by a three-goal margin other than 3-0 but still qualify. In this scenario, Italy and Romania would have identical head-to-head records, but Romania would have better goal difference in ALL group matches or, in the case of the three-goal defeats, goals scored. France would finish bottom, having scored fewer goals head-to-head v Italy and Romania.

If Romania lose 3-0 to the Dutch, Italy would qualify with a 0-0 draw against France because of their superior coefficient points. France would finish bottom as they would have scored fewer goals head-to-head v Italy and Romania.

If Romania lose by four goals or more and the other game ends 0-0, Italy would proceed with a better overall goal difference than Romania. France would finish bottom as they would have scored fewer goals head-to-head v Italy and Romania.

If France and Italy draw AND Romania avoid defeat, then Romania go through. France and Italy will have identical records and a unprecedented penalty shoot-out will decide who finishes third and fourth.