Euro 2024: Spain has to wait days to learn its next opponent, then rush to research them

Euro 2024 uncertainty: Spain awaits next opponent, Croatia on edge, fans left guessing - tournament format explained.

Spain doesn't know which team it plays next at Euro 2024.

Croatia thinks it is out of contention but doesn't know for sure.

The tournament format means days of waiting for some teams, rushed work for their analysts, and a headache for fans trying to grasp where their team will play next.

The issue is because the European Championship has six groups, but only four of the third-place teams with the best records qualify for the round of 16. That means if you're due to face a third-place team — like Spain is after winning Group B — you won't know who you have next until all of the groups have played.

“We might have to stay awake all night in order to study our rival when we find out who it is," Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said in translated comments after his team beat Albania 1-0 on Monday.

"We need to wait until Wednesday probably, a couple of days, until we know who we’re playing with. In any case, we’ll be mentally prepared to go all out and try to get to the next stage.”

De la Fuente said his staff had prepared research on potential opponents for the game in Cologne on Sunday, but there were many of them.