How come EURO never has a third place playoff?

It doesn't matter who finishes 3rd any more than it matters who finishes 7th, 11th, or last.

 

The 3rd place play-off is viewed as a glorified friendly. An extra, pointless game simply to squeeze a bit more money out of fans. Besides plenty of other cup competitions don't have it (this 3rd place nonsense would be even more lucrative in the CL).

 

3rd place playoffs belong solely in the olympics IMO.

 

UEFA tends to have a lower tolerance for nonsense.

I believe the Euros used to have a third-place playoff, but they got rid of it after Euro 1980.

 

The Third Place playoff at Euro 80 was decided on penalties but did not have extra-time so even then UEFA didn't seem to take the match too seriously.
But I've often wondered... France was due to host Euro 84, and at the '82 World Cup France lost the semi-final and played the Third Place playoff with mostly the reserve players who didn't receive much action during the tournament. Did this help influence in any way UEFA's decision to abandon the Consolation match? (France treated the match the same way at the '86 World Cup)

 

I never watch 3rd place games, even in the WC. Both teams by definition have already been eliminated from the competition and are just waiting to go home.

 

Don't mind keeping third place games in tournaments which already have like the WC, but they're not particularly meaningful - If you're a favorite that had hopes of making the final third place is a Mickey Mouse trophy, and if you're an underdog team, you've already made a semifinal and your tourney won't really be tarnished if you finish fourth instead of third. It can be a good way to end a tourney on a positive note for a team that has done well to make the semis and isn't horribly disappointed about not making the final, but that's about it.

 

I would like to see the Euros have a third place game, but there being a rule that only u25 players can play. Would be good to let the kids play under less pressure to showcase their talents.

 

What if one of the losing semi-finalists has a squad mostly comprised of older players?

 

wouldn’t happen, these days you need youth to succeed in this sport.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatia_at_the_2018_FIFA_World_Cup#Squad

 

And the losing semifinalists in 2016:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2016_squads#Germany
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2016_squads#Wales

 

because there is no interest in it, I'm surprised there is still one in the world cup

 

i would not sign that.

almost every International teams competition has a 3rd place match. it is in fact only the Euros that don't have one but only since 1984. They had it before.

 

I remember when USA had a shocking Quarterfinal loss in the Men's Basketball World Championship, and they finished sixth. They played classification games to rank all sixteen teams.

 

The 1980 Euros suffered from low attendance figures and viewership interest. Whole swaths of stadia were empty for these games. There was the hooliganism problem which disrupted the England-Belgium and only further discouraged interest to attend. Many of the matches were not carried live by broadcasters. In fact, English broadcasters only aired highlights of the third-place game.

As a response, UEFA changed the format in the hope it would generate more interest. They eliminated the third-place match contested by the group runner-ups and reintroduced the semi-finals in its place.