The Old World Championship is the second strongest tournament for national teams after the World Cup; it is followed on all continents, not just in Europe. If you want to not just watch football, but also experience a real surge of bright emotions thanks to a sports bet, go to Melbet Somalia. We propose to consider which teams should be paid special attention to – at least, it is them that bookmakers consider the most likely winners of the upcoming draw.
England – 4.33
Paradox: the founders of football. who constantly emphasize that it was they who invented and popularized this sport, have never been the strongest team on their continent. True, the British became world champions, but only once, and since then several generations of fans have changed, not to mention the players.
For the England team, now is the time to repay historical debts. Southgate’s team is clearly on the move – over the past year it only lost a freight train with the Brazilians. Last Euro brought the highest achievement in the history of the Three Lions – there was no triumph, but at least they reached the final and took silver. The World Cup showed a more modest result in the form of the quarterfinals, but the British were eliminated not by Morocco, like some, but by the future finalist France.
You need to take your opponents while they are still warm, especially since the British group will be “unloading”: you shouldn’t even notice the Slovenians and Serbs, and then any result of the match against Denmark will have virtually no effect on anything.
France – 4.5
The main rival of the British in the pursuit of the title at Euro 2024 is their neighbors on the other side of the English Channel. The French are much more spoiled by football trophies – they have won both continental and world forums twice. The 2018 World Cup was a triumph for the Gallic Roosters, and four years later they were satisfied with silver after a stunning final match against Argentina.
But for the last Euro, the French owed their fans a debt – few could have imagined that already in the ⅛, an insurmountable barrier on France’s path to the title would be the tactically competent, but not at all stellar Switzerland. A repetition of such a fiasco is unthinkable, especially since Le Bleu have recently looked practically invincible – and only Germany, which has beaten its opponent twice in the last six months, will disagree with this statement.
At the same time, even at the group stage, France will not be able to play to its full potential – all of its opponents, and these are the Netherlands, Austria and Poland, look like tightly knit and self-confident teams. True, in qualifying the French already played with the Netherlands, and in two matches the Orange were unable to oppose them with anything. The remaining two teams should not be more difficult.
Germany – 7.0
In the trophy room of the German team, the eyes are simply wide open – the team is a four-time world champion and a three-time Euro winner. However, history does not play football, and the modernity of the Bundesteam is such that they have not been shining for a long time. The last continental forum ended with the first opponent in the playoffs, although the future finalists were the English. It’s even worse at the World Cup – the last two games ended for the Germans at the end of the group stage.
Hosting Euro 2024, the German national team did not play in the qualifications, but in a series of control games showed that it is unpredictable. How can you beat the French twice and the Dutch again if you lose to the Poles, Turks and even the Japanese (devastatingly) – the football players themselves probably don’t understand this. However, freight trains were created in order to search for and test new game structures in practice, so there is no need to judge Bundesteam too harshly.
Even if the Germans play the fool, they are obliged to leave the group. The result of the game with the Swiss may be different, but any sensation with the Hungarians or Scots in front of their home stands will be a reason for criticism for many years.
Spain – 9.0
The Spanish national team is three times European champions, as well as the winner of the 2010 World Cup. Fifteen years ago, the Spaniards were a real dream team, but now their title can, to some extent, be considered a sensation.
The last Euro ended in the semi-finals for Furia Roja – the future champion, the Italian national team, was marinated in a penalty shootout, but still could not be eliminated. Against this background, the performance at the World Cup in Qatar looks like a failure – even though Morocco surprised everyone and deservedly reached the semi-finals, it is shameful for such a high-status team to be eliminated by ⅛. In a word, we need to rehabilitate ourselves in front of the fans, especially since the current form is very good – victories in official meetings over the same Italians and Croats speak volumes.
First, however, we need to get through the group stage, and it definitely won’t be easy there. Only Albania looks like a passable opponent, but otherwise they will have to repeat their path to the 2023 Nations League trophy, again beating the Italians and Croats.
Portugal – 9.0
The population of Portugal is four to five times smaller. than neighboring Spain, but bookmakers estimate the chances of the two Pyrenean teams at Euro 2024 to be the same. Portuguese football is now on the rise, and the star generation in the national team is ready to add to the team’s collection of titles, where nothing is more valuable so far than the only trophy for winning the 2016 continental forum.
Recently, the Portuguese have not gone far in the playoffs of major tournaments: they were eliminated at the last Euro in ⅛, losing to the Belgians, and in the Qatari quarter-finals they were shocked by the sensational Moroccans, who had previously scalped Furia Roja. However, Portugal’s current form shows that they are ready for a major challenge.
Portugal will have an easy ride in the group: the Czech Republic, Turkey and Georgia do not look like opponents to be afraid of.
Conclusions
There is no clear favorite for this tournament, especially since large forums are often won by someone other than the one from whom you most expect success. The intrigue is twisted to the limit!
