France, England & Ukraine battle for final two spots

• by Samuel Charles  @SoccerIsArt, Jun 18, 2012

[EURO 2012 GROUP D OUTLOOK] France, England and Ukraine -- which all control their own destiny -- aim for the last two quarterfinal spots at Euro 2012. All three can win the group. Sweden has already been eliminated. To figure out how the remaining can advance when Group D play concludes on Tuesday ...

France plays Sweden, and England faces Ukraine, both games start at 2:45 pm ET on Tuesday.
 
FRANCE (4 points; +2 goal difference)
Will advance if …
* It beats or ties Sweden on Tuesday.
* It ties Sweden and England ties or loses to Ukraine.
* It loses to Sweden and Ukraine ties England.
Can advance and can be eliminated if …
* It loses to Sweden and Ukraine beats England, depending on goal differential.
 
ENGLAND (4 pts; +1)
Will advance if …
* It beats or ties Ukraine.
Will be eliminated if …
* It loses to Ukraine and France beats or ties Sweden.
 
UKRAINE (3 pts; -1)
Will advance if …
* It beats England
Will be eliminated if …
* It loses or ties with England.
 
SWEDEN (0 pts; -2)
Already eliminated.
 
Here are a couple notes and scenarios not covered above:

* France can advance if it loses to Sweden and England loses if England loses by one goal and France by two if France scores more goals than England.
 
* France wins the group if it ties Sweden and England ties Ukraine.
 
* France wins the group if it beats Sweden. (Unless all of Example A happens.)
 
* England wins the group if it beats Ukraine and Sweden ties France. England wins the group if it ties Ukraine and France loses to Sweden.
 
* Ukraine wins the group if its beat England and Sweden beats or ties France.
 
 Example A
* England wins the group if it beats Ukraine AND France beats Sweden AND England wins by two goals AND France wins by
one UNLESS France scores at least two more goals than England
 
* Finally, if France or England can’t be separated, England will be placed above France due to a higher UEFA national team coefficient. This happens if England beats Ukraine 2-0 and France beats Sweden 3-2, or if Ukraine beats England 1-0 and Sweden beats France 3-1.
 
Got All That?
 
(For more on Euro 2012's unique tiebreaking, read "Euro group tiebreakers differ from World Cup" HERE.)