Following the draw at the Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg, Germany), the groups for the Euro 2024 finals have been determined. Let's take a look at the overall picture of this highly anticipated tournament.
Euro 2024 takes place from June 14 to July 14, 2024 in Germany. This 17th European Football Championship brings together 24 teams, divided into 6 groups, each group of 4 teams playing a round robin to calculate points. Similar to Euro 2020, the top two teams in each group and the 4 best third-placed teams will qualify for the knockout round.
Currently, only 21 representatives have been determined to participate in the final round, the remaining 3 spots still have to wait for the play-off matches scheduled to be held in late March 2024. This play-off round has 12 participating teams, divided into 3 branches to determine 3 teams to win tickets through direct elimination matches.
Bracket A: Poland vs Estonia - Wales vs Finland
Bracket B: Israel vs Iceland - Bosnia vs Ukraine
Bracket C: Georgia vs Luxembourg - Greece vs Kazakhstan
The draw has put the big three Italy, Spain and Croatia in Group B along with Albania. In Group A, the host Germany has a relatively easy time with opponents Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland. Similar to their rivals Die Mannschaft, the England team is in Group C with relatively easy opponents Denmark, Serbia and Slovenia.
Dig deeper into the groups to see the full picture of Euro 2024.
The lucky draw means that host Germany does not have to face any strong opponents in Group A. Scotland is ranked 36th in the world (in the FIFA rankings of November 2023), Hungary is ranked 27th in the world, and Switzerland is ranked 18th.
In the past, in all three times hosting major tournaments (World Cup 1974, Euro 1988 and World Cup 2006), Die Manschaft have at least reached the semi-finals. Therefore, getting past the group stage is a task within reach for the home team.
However, the German team's ability to compete for the championship is being questioned. Usually, the host team of major tournaments suffers a bit of a disadvantage because they cannot participate in matches that focus on results to gain experience.
The problem for Die Mannschaft is that even in friendly matches, the European football giant still shows a disappointing face. In the past 11 friendly matches in 2023, the German team has lost 7 matches, as a result, falling to 18th place in the FIFA rankings.
Julian Nagelsmann has been appointed to replace Hansi Flick as head coach of Die Mannschaft, but the 1987-born strategist has not been able to turn the situation around. The German team seems to be stuck in a transition between two generations with no shortage of talent.
If Germany win, the big mark will belong to young players under 20 years old like Florian Wirtz and Musiala, not the veterans who are getting older with age.
The opponents in Group A are not too difficult, but not easy to beat. Scotland are in good form, having defeated Spain. John McGinn is in charge and the inspiration comes from Scott McTominay, who scored 7 goals in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
Switzerland have always performed beyond expectations in major tournaments. In the last three World Cups and two Euro finals, the team have advanced past the group stage.
Switzerland had the brilliant saves of Yann Sommer (Inter Milan goalkeeper), the confidence of Manuel Akanji (Man City), the speed of Noah Okafor (AC Milan) and the cunning of Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire). The leader of that squad was Granit Xhaka, a midfielder who always showed his passion and bravery every time he wore the national team shirt.
Hungary is rising again after decades of slumber. Conductor and captain Dominik Szoboszlai has grown by leaps and bounds in Liverpool's colours, shedding his youthful image and becoming a shining star.
The technical qualities and bravery Szoboszlai is showing promise to help this player shine and lead Hungary to create a surprise in Germany.
Notable statistics:
- Germany have not won a knockout match since Euro 2016. Die Mannschaft were eliminated in the last two World Cups (2018, 2022) and lost in the round of 16 of Euro 2020. Germany are also on a streak of 12 consecutive matches conceding goals in major tournaments. The last match "The Tank" kept a clean sheet was against Slovakia in the round of 16 of Euro 2016.
- Thomas Muller has scored 10 goals in 19 appearances at the World Cup but has never scored at a Euro finals, after 15 matches.
The group stage, which includes the reigning European champions (Italy), the reigning Nations League champions (Spain) and the team that reached the semi-finals of the last two World Cups (Croatia), naturally attracts the attention of all football fans. Another interesting detail is that Spain will have their fourth consecutive Euro to face both Italy and Croatia.
Spain still has many quality midfielders but they lack a top striker. Besides a world-class holding midfielder like Rodri, La Roja owns a series of talented and young creative midfielders. The most typical are the duo Pedri and Gavi of Barcelona.
Spain’s big advantage is that they have a distinctive style, from which they build a clear style of play. La Roja is probably the best national team in the world at defending through possession. However, they always have trouble when facing teams that play a deep defensive style.
As mentioned, Spain need a good striker or quality drills to complete the team. The experience of coach Luis de La Fuente, a strategist who has never participated in a major tournament, also leaves a big question mark.
Meanwhile, Italy has always been an interesting unknown. Throughout history, almost every time football was in crisis or the team was not highly appreciated, the Azzurri were at their peak.
Despite being the defending champions, Italy entered Euro 2024 with difficulty, only qualifying after a goalless draw with Ukraine and being in the last seeding group. In the Azzurri squad, the biggest hope is still Federico Chiesa.
As for Croatia, Luka Modric is 38 years old and Marcelo Brozovic has moved to Saudi Arabia to play, the golden generation of the red and white striped team is passing.
However, Croatia is still one of the teams with the most impressive ball control ability and many quality players. Typical examples are Ivan Perisic, Lovro Majer and Bruno Petkovic.
Grouped with three big teams, Albiania (ranked 62nd in the world) probably cannot hope to go far. However, their unbeaten record in the qualifying round also shows that this team is not easy to bully.
Notable statistics:
- Not counting penalty shootouts, Spain have only lost 2 of their last 22 matches at the Euros, winning 13 and drawing 7. However, La Roja's 2 defeats were against Croatia and Italy at Euro 2016.
- Spain's last 50 goals at the Euros have all been scored from inside the penalty area. La Roja's last long-range goal was scored by the legendary Raul Gonzalez against Slovenia in the group stage of Euro 2000.
- Italy have conceded just six goals in their last 12 Euro finals games. The Azzurri have averaged just 1.84 goals in their 45 Euro games (52 for, 31 against), the lowest of any team that has played 10 or more matches.
England are the top contenders for the Euro 2024 title, alongside France, Spain, Germany and Portugal. The Three Lions have performed impressively and achieved great results in the last two major tournaments. Under the guidance of coach Gareth Southgate, England's playing style has also been clearly defined and, as every year, they have a series of excellent players in their squad.
The main duo of the "Three Lions" will be striker Harry Kane and midfielder Jude Bellingham. Kane is already a complete player, and is now even more complete after moving to Bayern Munich. Meanwhile, Bellingham is a phenomenon at Real Madrid. If he maintains his current form, the Golden Ball will belong to this player in the near future.
The satellites around are Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Declan Rice. However, to go far, England need a solid defense. If the duo of John Stones and Harry Maguire, Southgate's most likely central defenders, show good form, the possibility of the "Three Lions" winning the title will increase many times.
In the group stage, England's toughest opponent was Denmark. The "Tin Soldiers" had talented players like Christian Eriksen or young talent Rasmus Hojlund, but most importantly, they always showed cohesion in their modern, versatile playing style.
Meanwhile, Slovenia and Serbia are always expected to be "dark horses" in major tournaments but rarely meet expectations. Slovenia can look forward to Sesko, the striker playing for RB Leipzig, while Serbia is still waiting for the scoring talent of the duo Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic.
Notable statistics:
- Not counting penalties, England have only lost one of their last 18 matches at the Euros, winning 10 and drawing seven. That was the defeat to Iceland in the round of 16, Euro 2016.
- Harry Kane has been involved in 10 goals for England in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, with 8 goals and 2 assists. He has scored or assisted in all 7 starts. In the last 3 major tournaments, Kane is also the top scorer in Europe, with 12 goals (6 goals at the 2018 World Cup, 4 goals at Euro 2020 and 2 goals at the 2022 World Cup).
Along with Group B, Group D is expected to bring exciting matches, with the presence of France and the Netherlands. Coach Didier Deschamps has led the French team since 2012. Although not highly appreciated for his tactical imprint, this strategist knows how to manage Les Bleus to achieve great success in many tournaments.
Kylian Mbappe is naturally the brightest star, the biggest hope of the blue team. However, Antoine Griezmann is also an essential player in the squad.
The player has dropped deeper to become a metronome, setting the tone, holding the ball when the team needs to slow down and delivering perfectly timed passes. At 32, Griezmann has matured tactically and become an unpredictable figure on the pitch.
As the current world runner-up, with a squad of the best players on the planet, and an experienced coach, France is naturally a strong candidate for the championship. Besides, they have the motivation to conquer the pinnacle of glory after the bitter defeat against Argentina at the 2022 World Cup.
The Netherlands can be a tough opponent, as they showed against Argentina in the World Cup quarter-finals. However, it is difficult to put the "Orange Storm" on the list of title candidates, as they showed in two undeniable defeats to France in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
The Netherlands' greatest hope also reflects the quality of this team, that is midfielder Frenkie De Jong. The Barca player's talent is highly appreciated, but he is the type of player who connects the play, not creating breakthroughs. Coach Ronald Koeman is also not the type of strategist who can create unusual tactical breakthroughs.
Meanwhile, Austria are not easy to bully. Under the guidance of coach Rangnick, this team defeated Sweden to qualify for the final round. In addition, the remaining team in this group could be Poland or Wales, also very formidable.
Notable statistics:
- France have reached the final in three of the last four major tournaments. Les Bleus were runners-up at Euro 2016 and the 2022 World Cup and won the 2018 World Cup. In the Euro 2024 qualifiers, France had the most goalscorers, with 14 players scoring. Mbappe alone scored nine goals.
- Since Euro 2016, Griezmann has been directly involved in 18 goals at major tournaments, including 11 goals and 7 assists. This is the best achievement of a European player.
- The Netherlands is the team with the highest scoring efficiency in the Euros, with 65 goals after 39 matches, an average of 1.67 goals/match. The last 12 matches of the Netherlands in the European Cup finals have not ended in a draw, winning 6 and drawing 6.
Belgium was fortunate to be in a relatively easy group with Romania (43), Slovakia (45) and the winner of the play-off group B (Israel vs Iceland and Bosnia vs Ukraine). In theory, this could be considered the weakest group of the tournament.
Belgium showed signs of revival in qualifying, with Lukaku scoring 14 goals, Doku bursting with dribbling and speed, and Kevin De Bruyne still a master passer. However, the golden generation of the "Red Devils" has passed and, more importantly, the team lacks solidity in defense.
The aging Timothy Castagne, Wout Faes, and Jan Vertonghen in defense are not enough to bring confidence. Even though coach Tedesco has made many changes in playing style and cohesion, Belgium still cannot go far.
Of course, getting out of the group stage is probably within reach. The knockout stage is the real test. Lukaku can be seen as the embodiment of Belgium itself, a striker who is good at scoring goals but lacks character.
Slovakia, on the other hand, are a curious side. They have beaten Portugal twice, beaten Iceland and Bosnia, but were held to a goalless draw at home by Luxembourg. Romania, meanwhile, topped the group with Switzerland, unbeaten. This team has a young, promising squad and a good defensive organisation.
Notable statistics:
- Belgium's last 17 matches at the Euro finals have all been decided after 90 minutes, winning 9 and losing 8.
- Lukaku is the "Top scorer" of the Euro 2024 qualifiers with 14 goals. This striker is also the top scorer of the Belgian team in major tournaments, with 11 goals in 22 matches at the Euro and World Cup, but only 2 goals were scored in the knockout round.
- From the 2014 World Cup until now, Kevin de Bruyne has been the number one passer in major tournaments, with 9 assists for teammates to score (5 at Euro and 4 at World Cup).
The Euro 2016 champions were the only team to win all their Euro 2024 qualifiers, keeping six clean sheets in 10 matches. C. Ronaldo remains captain and now has 128 goals for his country.
However, CR7's key role has somewhat changed. Portugal's real leaders are now the duo of Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva, creative midfielders of class and at the peak of their form.
However, perhaps with his last participation in a major tournament, the 38-year-old superstar really wants to be present in every match. The problem is that with CR7's presence on the field, will Portugal be stronger or weaker?! After all, C. Ronaldo's desire no longer represents the desire of the Portuguese team.
Times are changing, under the guidance of Roberto Martinez, former coach of the Belgian national team, Seleccao has become more flexible and tactically versatile, with a squad of talented players at the peak of their careers. Experts are putting Portugal on the list of top candidates for the championship, but C. Ronaldo may be an obstacle.
Portugal’s toughest opponents in the group stage are Türkiye, who disappointed at Euro 2020 but are in good form under coach Montella.
Hakan Calhanoglu is the leader on the pitch, with a young, fresh squad that focuses on ball possession. Although still far behind the big boys, Türkiye are expected to be the dark horse of the tournament.
In contrast, the Czech Republic has not maintained its high form since the last Euro. Coach Silhavy had to resign in November due to poor performances and lack of discipline on the field. Meanwhile, even if Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece or Kazakhstan win the remaining tickets, these teams are not highly rated.
Notable statistics:
- Portugal won all 10 matches, scored 36 goals, and only conceded 6, the best achievement in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
- Cristiano Ronaldo holds the records for most matches played (25), most goals scored (14) and most assists (6) at Euro tournaments.
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