If you lose three matches out of four, failing to score in each of them, you should not be feted.

If you cannot muster a win in four 90-minute games you should be on the plane home, not preparing for the quarter-finals.

Welcome to the flawed Euro 2016 finals in France.

A tournament that has rewarded mediocrity and encouraged negativity in a misguided attempt to be more inclusive.

Michael O'Neill has done a wonderful job as the manager of Northern Ireland with such limited resources.

Just reaching the finals was an achievement and they were unfortunate against Wales in the last 16 - but they should not have been there.

They were because of the expanded format which enabled four countries to finish third out of four in their group and yet still qualify.

At least the Irish, North and South, both won a match in finishing next-to-bottom.

That is more than can be said for Portugal, through to the last eight against Poland on Thursday evening following four draws in normal time.

The Poles, together with Italy, were punished for winning their group. They faced a runner-up, Switzerland, scraping through on penalties, while four other group winners had random preferential treatment against third-placed qualifiers.

Italy had the worst deal of all, confronting Spain in the last 16. If it had not been Spain it would have been Croatia.

Meanwhile, others shut up shop, safe in the knowledge that finishing third in the group gave you a 66.6 per cent chance of qualification.

Slovakia's ultra-cautious performance against England proved the point.

The Euro finals should showcase the strength of the game in the continent, not offer a back-door route beyond the group stage to plucky also-rans.

Dumbing down the tournament promoted a primarily dull set of matches in the last 16, in which the quality was diluted.

The abandoned format of 16 nations split into four groups of four, the top two going straight through to the quarter-finals, was more coherent and much fairer.

The chances of bungling UEFA engaging reverse gear and restoring a system that made sense are zero, so what about the 2020 tournament to be hosted in major cities across Europe, culminating in the final at Wembley?

My mind goes back to Italia '90, one of the most boring World Cups in recent memory.

Guess what, the format was the same one being used in France 2016. England reached the semi-finals with one win out of five in normal time, against Egypt.

It was the penultimate World Cup before the tournament was expanded to 32 countries in eight groups of four, the top two in each qualifying for the last 16.

Underdogs can still prosper. In Brazil two years ago Costa Rica topped a group containing England, Italy and Uruguay. They reached the last 16 on merit, not by default.

If UEFA must persist with their growth policy, this is the way forward. The Euro finals, otherwise, will continue to go backwards.