The Emotions of Euro 2024
After the more than interesting Euro 2020 (which, curiously, was played in 2021), this year we will have the 17th edition of the competition, which is commonly regarded as the second most important tournament at national team level after, of course, the World Cup. So today, in addition to bringing you the Euro 2024 Betting Guide, we will also bring you an article about Euro 2024.
Euro 2024 will be made up of 24 national teams, of which 21 have already been confirmed, with 3 spots still to be decided. At the end of March, the qualifying play-offs will be played, where 12 national teams will be competing for the chance to take part in the tournament.
Unlike the previous Euro, which was held across 11 host cities in 11 countries, something unprecedented in world football, this edition will be played in a single country, Germany, which needless to say is one of the continent’s football nations with the greatest tradition. In 2018, Germany beat Turkey in the vote to host this edition of the tournament.
The final phase of the tournament begins with a group stage of 6 groups of 4 teams each, where the top 2 in each group and the 4 best third-placed teams qualify. The host nation is in Group A with Hungary, Switzerland and Scotland. While this does not appear to be a major challenge for the Germans, the reality is that the German side has gone through a few years of poor performance, having been eliminated in the group stage of the last two World Cups and in the round of 16 of the previous Euro. Germany are in a phase of rebuilding, so they do not start as one of the favourites, unlike what historically used to happen.
In Group B we find 3 teams that can be considered favourites, each with their own nuances: Spain, Italy and Croatia, with Albania completing the group. The Spaniards arrive with a young, renewed side and an energetic style of play that makes them one of the main contenders to lift the trophy. Croatia have continued to trust coach Dalić, who in turn has stuck with the core of the team that finished runners-up at the 2018 World Cup. Despite the quality of the Croatian side, the advanced age of some of their key players could work against them.
For their part, Italy are a big unknown, because although they failed to qualify for the last two World Cups, they come off the back of winning Euro 2020, and Luciano Spalletti’s project has been under way for less than 6 months, following the unexpected resignation of Roberto Mancini, who went on to manage the Saudi Arabia national team. Group C features another of the great favourites, England, who were runners-up at the last tournament and retain the core of the squad that achieved that result. The English share the group with Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia.
France are possibly the main favourites, having been finalists at the last two World Cups and boasting some of the biggest stars in world football, led by Kylian Mbappé. The French are in Group D alongside the Netherlands (another team in a phase of rebuilding), Austria and one of the play-off winners. Belgium are in Group E with Slovakia, Romania and another play-off winner. The Belgians arrive with the handover from their golden generation, which has plenty of talent but limited experience in tournaments of this kind.
Finally, Group F features Portugal, who still have Cristiano Ronaldo, although they have many other top-level players around the star from Funchal. The rest of the group is made up of the Czech Republic, the remaining play-off winner and Turkey, who should be highlighted as a possible surprise because they have a group of very talented players who could cause problems for some of the favourites.
