After three years this time, the 2024 European Football Championship has arrived. Euro 2024 will take place in Germany between June 14th – July 14th. 24 teams all fighting for one goal, the coveted trophy to be named the best footballing country in Europe.
After last tournament’s madness of the final ending in a penalty shootout, I expect there to be some big-time drama coming up in this one. France, England & Germany are all considered favorites to win it all, but I’m looking at teams like the Netherlands or Portugal to make an unexpected deep run into the knockout rounds.
In today’s article, we are going to be predicting how each group stage will go and then we’ll work our way through the knockout rounds to find our winner. Let’s get into it.
Group A
Naturally, the hosts are going to be the talk of the town whenever they play. Julian Naglesmann will have his squad playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation and I think that’ll get the best out of his star players like Jamal Musiala & Florian Wirtz.
Now I still don’t think Kai Havertz should be the starting number nine for this side (I like Fullkrug or Undav at that spot), but he’s been playing well and I can definitely see him scrapping a few goals in the early games. I’m very surprised Mats Hummels, after winning Man of the Match in both legs vs Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-final, was not called up. I think him alongside Jonathan Tah or Antonio Rüdiger would’ve been a formidable pairing at the back.
Hungary will be playing a 3-4-2-1 formation in this tournament which will rely heavily on the creative play of their starboy, Dominik Szoboszlai. Despite not winning a game in their last tournament, they earned two impressive draws against both France and Germany.
They will definitely need to turn it around after losing a friendly to Ireland 2-1 after conceding the winner in the 92nd minute. Look for both Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez & Freiburg’s Rolan Sallai to have big tournaments for the Magyarok.
Scotland and Switzerland round up Group A, but with two very different experiences at the last tournament. Scotland bowed out of the competition without a victory and Switzerland had arguably the biggest upset of the tournament by knocking out France in a penalty shootout.
Both teams have talent, but only one of them will actually be able to take advantage of it this tournament. And I think that team is going to be in red & white. The talent in this group just seems to be too big for Andy Roberston & Co. (love you Robbo, sorry lad).
Predictions:
- Germany
- Switzerland
- Hungary
- Scotland
Group B
This is a group that is not nearly getting talked about enough, and I think it’s been a common theme over the last few years. Italy quite literally won the last tournament, Spain won the Nations League & Croatia has been to the final and semi-final of the last two World Cups. So why are nobody talking about any of them to make a deep run?
It’s simple, they don’t have the “star power” or big names that the other countries do. However, they do have players that will do their jobs and do them efficiently. For example, Alessandro Bastoni is one of the worlds best center backs, but he’s not nearly talked about as much as someone like Antonio Rüdiger or William Saliba.
Albania, coming back after their 2016 appearance in France, just got unlucky with this draw. I think the other three teams do make the knockout stages, but there’s only one that will make it past the Round of 16.
Predictions:
- Italy
- Croatia
- Spain (qualified for knockouts)
- Albania
Group C
Football’s coming home, it’s coming home, it’s coming!
I truly do pray for England fans because they’ve been singing that song since 1966 and it is yet to come home. After the heartbreaking loss in the EURO 2020 final, at their home stadium as well, England look to rebound in Germany with one of their most talented squads yet.
Jude Bellingham, after tearing it up in Madrid, is on pace to be one of the top contenders for the Ballon D’Or, Kobbie Mainoo scored the winning goal for Manchester United in the FA Cup Final, Harry Kane broke Bundesliga scoring records & Phil Foden won Premier League Player of the Year. And that’s not even all of the players worth mentioning.
The challenge for manager Gareth Southgate will be how he’ll line up for their first game against Serbia on the 16th. Against Bosnia & Herzegovina on Monday, the Three Lions lined up in a 4-2-3-1 with Trent & Gallagher playing as holding midfielders.
The question is, will that formation work when Bellingham, Rice & Saka are involved? England have only lost one match (1-0 friendly to Brazil at Wembley in March) in over a year, so whatever Southgate has been doing is working. It’s just time for that same end product to carry over into the big moments of this tournament.
Serbia is a dark horse to win this group with quality all over the pitch. Sergej Milinković-Savić & Dušan Vlahović will the big names to watch. The Orlovi (Eagles) will go as far as they take them, and after missing out on the last tournament, they’ll be out for revenge.
Josip Ilicic coming back to play for Slovenia, and scoring in his last appearance, is a great thing to see. Up top, they’ll be led by young talent Benjamin Šeško who is currently being looked at by the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Denmark are back facing England after the Three Lions defeated them in the semifinal after an extra-time goal from Harry Kane. De Rød-Hvide (The Red and Whites) will be a competitor in this year’s competition with the return of Christian Eriksen and the emergence of young Rasmus Højlund up top.
They’ll be coming into the tournament with some momentum behind them as they have won 10 of their last 11 matches.
Predictions:
- England
- Serbia
- Denmark (qualified for knockouts)
- Slovenia
Group D
Now talk about a group with some star power. Kylian Mbappe, fresh off of a world-changing move to Real Madrid, will be looking to win his first EURO’s while Netherlands star defender and captain Virgil van Dijk will be playing in his first one.
France are moving swiftly into their new era of players will still keeping some veterans around the squad like N’Golo Kante & Olivier Giroud. They are still probably the most talented team in the whole tournament, but they know more than anyone that being talented won’t give them an easy ride to the Final.
After being up 3-1in the second half against Switzerland, Les Blues conceded two goals and then eventually lost in a penalty shootout.
Despite ultimately falling short in Qatar, the French are still stronger than ever. Players like Bradley Barcola and Jonathan Clauss will be making their first appearances as part of Didier Deschamps team, but will have vital roles to the teams success.
For the Dutch, it will all depend on how well their attack plays. They have the potential to be one of the best teams in the tournament, they just have to get consistent goals out of their attack.
Whether that will be from Cody Gakpo (top scorer for the Onsoranje in Qatar), Memphis Depay (five goals away from becoming Netherlands all-time leader in goals) or the youngster Brian Brobbey. Ronald Koeman will be in charge of one of the most talented Dutch sides in a while, for his sake, I hope it will work out.
Predictions:
- France
- Netherlands
- Poland (qualified for knockouts)
- Austria
Group E
Belgium have been so close, but they just haven’t been able to see the final moments through. They lost in the semifinal to the eventual champions France at the 2018 World Cup, and since then they haven’t been able to reach those heights.
They upset Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal at the last EURO’s, but then were beaten by the eventual champions Italy 2-1. The questions with Les Rouges have never been with their attack, but with their defense. Ever since Vincent Company retired from football, they have been questionable with their defense.
This summer, it looks like Belgium will be running a 3-4-2-1 formation with Thomas Meunier, Axel Witsel & Wout Faes/Arthur Theate manning the defense.
The main man up top is still going to be Romelu Lukaku, but he’s joined by so much talent in the attack. Names like Leandro Trossard, Jeremy Doku, Johan Bakayoko, Charles de Ketelaere & Loïs Openda will all contribute in Germany.
The one big, and I mean big, difference is that they will not be joined by Thibaut Courtois. Courtois, who just won the Champions League with Real Madrid, was not included in Belgium’s final squad for the tournament. Reports are that after Courtois became upset with Lukaku getting the armband, there was a rift between him and the manager, Domenico Tedesco.
Ukraine are a team that I am excited to watch this tournament. After a difficult first couple of seasons in West London for Mykhailo Mudryk, I feel that he can really have a great tournament with his countrymen. I’m also excited to see striker Artem Dovbyk, who scored 24 goals and assisted eight more this year in LaLiga for Girona.
Predictions:
- Belgium
- Ukraine
- Romania
- Slovakia
Group F
In what will be most likely Cristiano Ronaldo’s last tournament for Portugal, it’ll probably be his most talented group of teammates since he started playing for A Seleção das Quinas.
Diogo Jota will be returning to the side after missing out from Qatar with an injury along with Nuno Mendes & Pedro Neto. At the ripe age of 41, Pepe will be back for yet another tournament with Portugal as both Gonçalo Inacio & Rúben Dias will most likely be the starting pair at center half.
Georgia won a penalty shootout against Greece (still sad about that) to make it to their first major tournament ever as a nation. Led by their star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, they will look to make even more history as a team.
After failing to earn a single point at the last EURO tournament, Turkey are coming back with a great squad hoping to get some revenge on their doubters. Youngsters Kenan Yildiz (Juventus) and Arda Güler (Real Madrid) will be two players to keep an eye on as they play in their first tournament matches for their country.
Czech Republic are back after upsetting Netherlands in the last EUROs. I don’t know if they have the talent to go super far in this tournament, but if their Bayer Leverkusen duo of Patrik Schick and Adam Hložek perform well, they have a chance to get out of the group.
Predictions:
- Portugal
- Georgia
- Turkey (qualified for knockouts)
- Czech Republic
Knockout Stages
Round of 16
- Germany 🇩🇪 vs Serbia 🇷🇸
- Switzerland 🇨🇭 vs Croatia 🇭🇷
- Italy 🇮🇹 vs Turkey 🇹🇷
- England 🏴 vs Poland 🇵🇱
- Portugal 🇵🇹 vs Spain 🇪🇸
- Netherlands 🇳🇱 vs Ukraine 🇺🇦
- Belgium 🇧🇪 vs Denmark 🇩🇰
- France 🇫🇷 vs Georgia 🇬🇪
Quarter-Finals
- Serbia 🇷🇸 vs Italy 🇮🇹
- Portugal 🇵🇹 vs Netherlands 🇳🇱
- Belgium 🇧🇪 vs France 🇫🇷
- England 🏴 vs Croatia 🇭🇷
Semi-Finals
- Italy 🇮🇹 vs Netherlands 🇳🇱
- France 🇫🇷 vs England 🏴
Final
France 🇫🇷 beats Netherlands 🇳🇱
It’s simple. I’m never going to be the guy that bets against Didier Deschamps and his teams in tournaments. Especially when his team is being led by a certain guy named Kylian Mbappe. The unsung hero for Les Blues is Antoine Griezmann, who had an incredible tournament at the World Cup in 20222 and is expected to do the same here in Germany.
And the reason why I’m picking France, is the same reason why I can’t see England winning it all. The manager. Now I think the media is definitely a bit harsh on Gareth Southgate in England. I mean, he has been to a semi-final and final in two of the three tournaments he has managed for.
However, his lineup decisions are sometimes very baffling. Benching Rashford in the World Cup while he was in the form of his life and not playing Trent Alexander-Arnold regularly in the starting XI are just a couple of examples.
This Netherlands team is so talented, it’s hard for me to not see them make a deep run in this tournament. The possible linkup play between Jeremie Frimpong and whoever is in attack is something that Dutch fans are probably salivating over. Let’s not forget that this Netherlands team was a penalty shootout away from beating Argentina, and they’re coming to this tournament with an even better roster.
Italy under Luciano Spalletti just seems like a match made in heaven. Gianluca Scamacca and Federico Chiesa are both playing out of their minds right now. And if Jorginho can continue playing like how he finished the year for Arsenal, then they can make this deep run. I don’t like the guy at all, but it’s hard to not acknowledge how important he is to their success.
A couple of players to keep an eye on for this tournament are Johan Bakayoko, Kenan Yildiz, Eberechi Eze, Vitinha & Xavi Simons.
A summer full of football is a beautiful summer. Let’s all enjoy it.
This is YSN, until next time, signing out.
