Heard Alan Shearer say on MOTD...

[Pink Panther]

Originally Posted by AlpineExile

But with six groups of four leading to the top two going through by right plus the four 'best third placed' ones there will be a round of 16 prior to the quarter-finals anyway, so that's the same as the top four going through from four groups of six.

Yeah, so it'd be 36 games or 60 games played to eliminate 8 teams.

[AlpineExile]

Originally Posted by Pink Panther

Yeah, so it'd be 36 games or 60 games played to eliminate 8 teams.

Which will allow the minnows to hang around for a bit longer and get to play a few more matches on an international stage.

[Pink Panther]

Originally Posted by AlpineExile

Which will allow the minnows to hang around for a bit longer and get to play a few more matches on an international stage.

If you want lesser teams who are already knocked out to play more games all of the teams that get beaten in the first knock out stage could play each other in a ninth place play off.

[Jasper]

Originally Posted by Mark

The Euros in its current format is the best international competition in the world IMHO.

This.

[The Butcher]

Originally Posted by Wearside Wanderer II

Five minutes, yer not obsessed like

Twas a fairly standard response I thought, you should be pleased !!

Should only be 16 teams for me. But UEFA never let sense get in the way of making more money. Same for FIFA.

[redandwhitejoe]

Originally Posted by Captain_Fishpaste

Absolutely, aye. Ukraine are currently 52nd in the FIFA rankings but produced a really entertaining game in their opener. Poland are 62nd but produced two cracking games.

Plenty decent European sides out there who are not at this tournament but could add to the entertainment like Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania, Switzerland.... not massive powers I grant, you, but far from minnows too.

I agree that there are good teams out there not at the tournament but the problem is that it will render the group stages almost pointless. I bet at Euro 2016 pretty much anyone will be able to accurately predict who will progress to the last 16. There'll be no situations like 2012's group B where one of Holland, Germany and Portugal won't qualify so you're guaranteed some important games early on, and there'll be less chance of upsets in the groups that should be easier for the top teams.

So yes, you're getting more games. The problem is that half the tournament is no longer as exciting as it used to be. The extra games come at the price of massively devaluing the group stages which to me, is not a price worth paying.

[SirSidneyRuffDiamond]

It's a bloody stupid idea but what do we expect from Platini and the like? It will mean 24 out of 53 nations qualifying for the finals; that's almost half. It's ridiculous. The standard will be diluted and the idea of 3rd placed teams qualifying either for the finals or for the knockout stages is crazy.

[Pink Panther]

What about 8 groups of 3?