France's draw to Greece on Tuesday evening in Euro 2024 qualifying prevented them from achieving a European Championship feat that has never been seen before.
Group B was done and dusted before the evening began, with France and Netherlands both qualifying automatically and Greece advancing to the play-offs via their Nations League position.
Other teams, including England, France, Spain and reigning champions Italy, had also made it through to the showpiece event in Germany.
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The other qualifiers will be determined by three play-off ties, with the likes of Poland, Israel, Greece and even Estonia competing for the final spots.
Given that the finishing positions in Group B were confirmed, you might have thought there was nothing to play for ahead of last night's action. But you would be wrong - technically.
Didier Deschamps' side started the night on top of the group, courtesy of seven wins out of seven games. On the flip side, Gibraltar were bottom of the group with seven defeats from seven games - the latest being a 14-0 thrashing at the hands of France on Saturday.
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With five teams in the group, meanwhile, Republic of Ireland's campaign is over after their 1-0 defeat to Netherlands.
That means that, for the final round of the group, France took on Greece, while Netherlands were up against Gibraltar.
If France and Netherlands both won, they would have completed football's rarest phenomenons - the 'perfect' group.
As spotted on Reddit, the teams would have had perfect records should those results occur.
France would have eight wins, with Netherlands on six victories. Greece, meanwhile, would have four wins to their name, with Ireland on two.
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And Gibraltar would round off the 'symmetry' with zero wins from their eight games. There had not been a single draw in the group up to that point.
As a result, the difference in points between each team would be identical. France would have 24, with Netherlands on 18. Greece would have 12, Ireland six and Gibraltar zero.
Such a feat has never occurred before in the history of European Championships qualifying - although it did nearly happen in qualifying for Euro 1992.
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Spain's match against Albania was cancelled due to the ongoing political crisis in Albania. Had the match taken place, and Spain won, they would have had four wins from their eight games.
Group winners France had eight wins, while fourth-placed Iceland were on two wins. Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) and Albania, though, would have ruined the 'order', with five wins and one win respectively.
And unfortunately, the feat still hasn't been achieved. Netherlands held up their side of the bargain with a convincing 6-0 win in Gibraltar, but France could only draw 2-2 against Greece in Athens. The 'perfect group' will have to wait a little while longer.
Topics: Euro 2024, Football, France, Netherlands
Ryan Smart