UEFA Euro 2024: Predicting the Group Stage Winners

UEFA Euro 2024 was an anticipated event of this year as UEFA Champions League tournaments. It includes 51 matches that take place in Germany from the 14th of June to the 14th of July. This year the opposition was so strong many fans and experts were pleasantly shocked of how it turned out. So, in the article we see the results and consider each group separately to make a thorough and detailed analysis of the championship.

Group A Analysis

The A group included very ambitious teams. Here, Germany played against Scotland, which sure was an interesting match. The latter showed true competition to maintain their reputation and make the fans roar with excitement. Although their loss was inevitable when playing against the host and favorite, they showed wonderful football. The next competing teams were Hungary and Switzerland. The first one significantly enhanced their skills and tactics under a professional Italian coach management, which definitely made Switzerland sweat a bit. However, in the end, the Swiss squad prevailed by scoring two more goals, which posed an unrealistic task for Hungarians to keep pace.

Teams in Group A

In the A group, we had the following participating teams:

CountryThe strongest players
GermanyManuel Neuer (Goalkeeper), Thomas Muller (striker), and Leroy Sane (Midfielder)
ScotlandJohn McGinn (midfielder), Andrew Robertson (defender), and Kieran Tierney (defender)
SwitzerlandJan Sommer (Goalkeeper), Haris Seferovic (striker), and Granit Xhaka (Midfielder)
HungaryWilli Orban (defender), Dominik Soboslaj (midfielder), and Peter Gulaci (Goalkeeper)

Every one of them has its own specific tactics, style, and a whole list of successful matches. Let’s compare them next.

Head-to-Head Comparisons

Germany. First of all, it is an ongoing trend that the German team is considered a favorite in Euro 2024. They are famous for their attacking style and constant possession of the ball. Also, they build a strong defensive line and prefer to dominate the field. The whole philosophy of the squad is concentrated on aggressive play. They started their preparations long before the event by participating in friendly matches with much stronger opponents and spending time in training camps. The team managed to confirm its status as the favorite of the A group.

Scotland. It is famous for its fighting spirit because they never give up until the final whistle is blown. Therefore, they never gave up the hope of winning and being one of the top teams in the group. Scottish sticks to stronger defense tactics and short counterattacks. The team’s main aim is to create a threat for their opponent on the field during their counter-attacks by playing so-called organized football. However, this time, their expectations were left behind when they lost to Germany and Hungary on their first tours.

Hungary. The team has a rich football history. In the beginning, they hoped to move closer to the main tournament and leave their group. They stick to the similar Scottish team tactics of playing very well and making quick and aggressive counter-attacks. Their first matches were almost successful. It only knocked down the Scottish team but did not manage to win against Switzerland or Germany.

Switzerland. The balance of youth and experience together with stability were the key factors that helped Swiss to become one of the best in their group and move forward up to ¼ of the Euro tournament together with Germany. The Swiss team prefers to make emphasis on the ball possession and creates powerful combos throughout the play. Besides, according to their tactics, they like to dominate in the center of the field.

Predictions

The initial prediction of the finishing places looks as follows:

  • Germany
  • Hungary
  • Switzerland
  • Scotland.

But actually, it turned out that Germany and Switzerland were the best ones in the group to move forward. 

Group B Analysis

It turned out that this B group includes very interesting teams. It has such skillful and professional teams as Spain and Italy that have already been the winners of the Euro championship once. There are also less strong teams, such as Croatia and Italy. 

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Teams in Group B

This group includes the following set of teams:

CountryThe strongest players
SpainRodri Hernández, Lamine Yamal
ItalyNicolò Barella, Mateo Retegui
Croatia Luka Modrić, Joško Gvardiol
Albania Armando Broja

Some pros call this one a “Group of Death” because it can be the best pool of teams in the tournament. 

Head-to-Head Comparisons

Spain. It was mostly anticipated that this team would easily make its way through the selection stages, but now we have 1 failure and 7 victories, which was a huge surprise to all the fans. The Spanish team has already won the Euro tournament three times, so like Germany, it became a decorated team in the championship. And they managed to prove that they were worthy of another Euro tournament victory, this time grabbing it under the nose of the German team in the ¼ stage of the championship.

Italy. This team won the Euro in 2020, but this season, they arrived as an underdog of their group, so experts did not expect much of them. However, the team performed better in a way that it managed to defeat its opponents and get into the ⅛ stage to lose to the skillful Switzerland team.

Croatia. They are always very skillful and professional, taking into account that they took third place in the last two World Cup tournaments. Other than that, the team did not manage to enter the final stages of the Euro despite their powerful trio of world-star players.

Albania. This team managed to break the world record set by the Russian national team in 2024. Albanians now scored the fastest goal from the beginning of the match with Italy in the 22nd second. Also, they managed to become surprisingly successful, making them leaders in the E group due to their solid defense tactics.

Predictions

As it was anticipated, Spain showed the most exciting and progressive football among all the other teams in its group. Being a favorite in the B group Spanish players managed to perform on the top of their abilities leaving its fans breathless. Italy also showed great results moving from the underdogs of the group to one of its favorites.

Group C Analysis

If you look at the set of teams here, you can understand from the beginning that it was a competition for second place in the group. It is obvious that Serbia and Slovenia are the underdogs of this group due to the powerful performances of the Danish and English teams.

Teams in Group C

The group includes the following teams:

  • England
  • Denmark
  • Serbia
  • Slovenia

The results of their competitions were rather interesting because there were many draws.

Head-to-Head Comparisons

England. Clearly, this was one of the most promising participants in the Euro championship. However, many experts came to the conclusion that this time, this powerful team was not working in its full power, giving their victory to Spain easily.

Denmark. Despite the number of points scored Denmark missed more goals than it managed to score. However, the team enhanced their defense and made it possible to make a draw with Switzerland, which is very surprising.

Serbia. It undoubtedly showed an excellent game. In the match with England it managed to defend their gates with all the strength, so they missed only 1 goal making this match one of the most exhilarating for their fans.

Slovenia. The team had 22 points at the qualifying stage which is the same as Denmark. The team certainly can become one of the favorites, however experts think that Euro was a good option to score more points this time. Its players are very much underrated and are capable of damage to an opponent of any level.

Predictions

Based on the pre-match predictions, all the experts were considering England as the first favorite of the tournament. But some of them also labeled Serbia as the “dark horse” of the championship because their skills and experience are very rich.

Group D Analysis

The D group includes a wonderful set of teams, where France is obviously the favorite one.  But, to our biggest surprise this year, the Netherlands and Austria were very noticeable due to their luck and skills.

Teams in Group D

The group includes the following teams:

  • France
  • Netherlands
  • Austria
  • Poland

Here, Austria became shockingly better than others.

Head-to-Head Comparisons

France. Unlike the Spanish team, France was a true first-raw favorite based on the opinions of many experts. However, the Euro showed that this time, it was a total failure for them. Despite the fact that it managed to get into the ½ stage of the tournament in a match with Spain, it scored only once, letting the Spaniards win.

The Netherlands. They showed a truly exciting game against England by letting them score only one goal ahead. The opposition was very tense. The Dutch team won third place in the whole tournament due to their outstanding skills and fast goal situation.

Austria. This team was successful enough to reach a knockout by winning the D group stage ahead of Netherlands and France. However, their failure during the match with Turkey definitely spoiled the whole picture, leaving them out.

Poland. The team certainly performed well during the group stage. However, it was not enough for making it anywhere further this season. It is also worth mentioning that experts either did not bet on any success from the Poland team.

Predictions

Nobody expected that Austria would be the best in the D group, so early predictions certainly did not place it among the best teams here. At the same time, expectations that were highly anticipated from France failed.

Group E Analysis

The teams in the E group also had some interesting moments and surprises. Slovakia played excellent matches, while Belgium had too much hope from the fans.

Teams in Group E

The participants of the group are as follows:

  • Belgium
  • Slovakia
  • Romania
  • Ukraine

Romania and Slovakia are among the best in the group, while Belgium is disappointing.

Head-to-Head Comparisons

Belgium. As a shadow favorite of the tournament, the Belgium team has failed this time to offer anything that should look like an exciting game. At first, the anticipations of a great form of team players were strong, but as fans saw them performing on the field, the hope was lost.

Slovakia. The team surprised its fans by winning against Belgium scoring one and only goal. Their efforts also brought them a well-earned victory against Ukraine and a draw in a match with Romania. So, the third place is a wonderful result for the team.

Romania. The team showed pretty solid results when they beat Ukraine and Slovakia. However, the Netherlands was stronger and left the Romanians with a 3:0 score. It is definitely an excellent result and a step forward for the team to get into the ⅛ stage.

Ukraine. This season was not very good for the team because it was beaten by Romanians and, prevented them from entering the ⅛ stage. The players themselves admitted it was not a very great game and promised their fans they would become stronger next time.

Predictions

The predictions that were made definitely did not expect Romania to thrash Ukraine this time and become one of the strongest teams, together with Slovenia.

Group F Analysis

The last group of the tournament also provided some surprises. Portugal was surely considered as a favorite among them. 

Teams in Group F

The group teams are as follows:

  • Portugal
  • Czechia
  • Turkey
  • Georgia

The Turkish team along with the Georgian team was the best among the set because it managed to get to the ¼ stage. However, the Portugal team was a little bit frustrating.

Head-to-Head Comparisons

Portugal. This time, fans observed that it was a weak game. Ronaldo missed a penalty. So, hopes for a better game were lost when the team left in the ¼ stage.

Czechia. The team played a solid game; however, it did not withstand the force of Turkey and left Europe without getting into the ⅛ stage.

Turkey. This Euro tournament became a true success for the Turkish team who managed to lead themselves into the ¼ stage defeating Czechia and Austria opponent teams.

Georgia. This tournament went quite successful for Georgia and led them into the ⅛ stage. It happened for the first time since their participation in the tournament. They were considered underdogs but went so far.

Predictions

Experts similarly concluded that Portugal must be the strongest team in the group and capable of producing better results. However, their expectations were not that accurate this time.

Factors Influencing Group Stage Outcomes

As you know every match has some internal and external factors that can influence its result. It can be anything from the weather at the day of the match to a new field and players’ forms and, sometimes, simple luck.

Player Injuries and Fitness

There were a couple of injuries punters acquired during the match. For instance a Spanish player Rodri was injured during the final game. However, it did not influence the final outcome much. But this is a happy case when we talk about the injuries players can get during such an event.

Team Form and Momentum

This season, some teams lost several valuable players due to their injuries and other factors. For instance, Germany did not include Kai Havertz in their lineup because of his injury, and Scotland lost one of the fastest players, Ryan Fraser, for unknown reasons. So, other teams’ lineups also had some crucial changes that definitely influenced the direction of the games.

Tactical Approaches

Basically every participant you saw at Euro 2024 has its unique tactics. Some, like Germany, prefer aggressive tactics in combination with a strong defense and others stick to better defense and short and quick counter-attacks.

Potential Dark Horses and Surprises

Euro 2024 had many dark horses starting from Serbia to Georgia. They were both counted as underdogs and managed to overcome this label and beat their personal results and expectations.

Teams That Could Upset Predictions

As we have already mentioned some of the teams such as Dutch, Serbian and Georgian did the best they could, working hard to move into the next stages and even set their personal records. 

Reasons for Possible Upsets

The tournaments had many failures, such as France and Portugal in general meaning. Normally, these teams show much better results, but this time, it seemed that luck had forsaken them. Despite the success of the English squad, they also played quite a boring game.

Conclusion

Euro 2024 certainly was a grandiose event that revealed new rising stars and prospective teams. However, fans and experts noticed some disappointments during the championship. Anyway, the 2024 Euro remains one of the most interesting events for those who succeeded.