Spain breaks out, England is relegated miserably

EURO 2024 Championship Candidates: Spain Breaks Out, England Relegated Miserably — England dropped out of the strongest teams in the EURO 2024 group stage. Photo: Goal

Before EURO 2024, Spain was not highly rated among the candidates for the championship. However, Luis de la Fuente's army made a strong impression when defeating Croatia and Italy with a completely convincing performance.

No longer obsessed with the philosophy of ball control, La Roja emphasizes pragmatism when not afraid to use long diagonal balls to approach the goal as quickly as possible. The collective combining veterans and youth of De la Fuente is initially showing success at EURO 2024.

Goal newspaper rates Spain as the leading candidate for the EURO 2024 championship. Photo: Goal

Similar to Spain, host Germany also showed impressive play with a pair of wings including young factors such as Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala. The 5-1 victory over Scotland in the opening match of EURO 2024 was also the first time in the history of the tournament that two players under 21 scored for the same team in a match.

Not only that, Julian Nagelsmann's army is also the representative possessing the most balanced and excellent force in all three lines at EURO 2024. With the top position in Group A, the strength of the German team will be tested when falling into the bracket where they may have to face Portugal, the Netherlands and even France.

Host Germany is having an impressive performance in the journey to conquer the EURO 2024 championship. Photo: Goal

Before the tournament took place, Portugal was not considered a top candidate for the championship at EURO 2024 despite owning superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. However, the "European Selecao" proved that assessment wrong, after 2 victories against the Czech Republic and Türkiye.

Roberto Martinez's team showed flexibility in their playing style when changing the system from 3 central defenders back to a formation with 4 defenders. Although CR7 has not yet scored his first goal at EURO 2024, the surrounding factors such as Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva have all had impressive performances.

Having won the top spot in Group F before the final match, Portugal is ready for the knockout round of EURO 2024. Photo: Opta

As one of the top candidates for the EURO 2024 championship, the French team has not been able to meet the expectations of fans. Didier Deschamps' army has begun to show some imbalance when the defense plays well but on the contrary, the strikers are incredibly unlucky.

According to statistics, after more than 180 minutes in Germany, Les Bleus kept a clean sheet in 2 matches but could not score a single goal. While Kylian Mbappe was absent due to a broken nose, other strikers such as Antoine Griezmann or Marcus Thuram could not stand up to carry the attack. However, the French team still has a match against Poland to find inspiration to play football, before winning a ticket to continue at EURO 2024.

Despite not having an impressive performance, the French team is still considered one of the candidates for the title at EURO 2024. Photo: Goal

With 4 points after the first 2 matches, the Netherlands team is the next representative who is likely to win a ticket to the round of 16 of EURO 2024. However, the performance of the "Orange Storm" is making fans feel uneasy.

The Oranje's attack has not shown efficiency despite creating a superior number of chances. It is hard to believe that the Dutch team with an attack consisting of stars such as Memphis Depay, Xavi Simons or Cody Gakpo has to rely on the brilliance of Wout Weghorst - Ronald Koeman's trump card on the bench.

The problem of goal output is still a concern for the Netherlands team at EURO 2024. Photo: Goal

Ahead of EURO 2024, England were considered the number 1 candidate for the championship in Germany this summer. Although they were likely to win the ticket to the next round as group winners, Gareth Southgate's team showed a disappointing performance.

The Three Lions’ unconvincing performance followed a familiar pattern against Serbia and Denmark. Not only that, Southgate is also stuck in the personnel problem, wanting to turn England into a group of all the best stars, instead of a unified and best-playing team.