EURO 2024 Preview
Top contenders
France
The most notable team in the entire competition is Les Blues. This team has so much quality that you think their second team would have a strong chance of competing well. In addition, coach Didier Deschamps has led them to two World Cup finals and the 2016 Euro final, so they have experience.
You get the impression that France is limited to defeating themselves, much like they may have been when Switzerland ousted them on penalties in the round of 16 in the previous European Championship.
England
England is under constant pressure to win a major tournament—pressure that grows with each passing one as they need to lift a trophy for the first time since the 1966 World Cup.
Although England lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy on penalties after losing to them in the World Cup quarterfinal in Russia in 2018, manager Gareth Southgate arguably has the best team England has had since 1966. England has many elite players, including Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, and many more. Not only have they drawn a weak group, but if they win, they will also not have to face the winner of the group until the semifinals.
Spain
Even without the injured Gavi, Luis de la Fuente’s Spain team is full of talent, especially in the middle of the park, and Álvaro Morata has, at least at the club level, found his scoring form again. The back might be a weak point, but French-born players Robin Le Normand and Aymeric Laporte have recently provided some solidity.
Portugal
Roberto Martinez, the coach of Portugal, has previously managed the golden generation of Belgium, where he was faced with extracting the maximum performance from a gifted team that could never produce gold. He finds himself in a similar scenario again with Portugal, a team full of household names that can be challenging to assemble into a cohesive unit: Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Rúben Dias, João Félix, Diogo Jota, and, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo. We didn’t learn much from qualifying because they were in a relatively easy group, so we’ll have to wait and see what this side can produce.
Outsiders
Italy
Defending champions Italy appears to be a step below the top contenders, having struggled mightily to turn opportunities into goals of their own. They have quality in the middle of the pitch, but Federico Chiesa’s health and performance level come tournament time will determine a lot on the offensive end. In the meantime, they will miss Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini’s leadership at the back compared to Euro 2020.
The Netherlands
Ronald Koeman’s team appeared to be underperforming over a significant portion of the season, as the Netherlands placed second in the qualifying group behind France. Though they have a strong lineup in midfield (Frenkie de Jong, Ryan Gravenberch, Xavi Simons) and a formidable back line (Virgil van Dijk, Denzel Dumfries, Sven Botman, Nathan Aké, Matthijs de Ligt, Jurriën Timber), you have to question if Cody Gakpo and Wout Weghorst will be sufficient upfront.
Croatia
Although they struggled in qualifying, Croatia hopes that Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Ivan Perisic, and Domagoj Vida—the remaining members of their golden generation—can still work their magic. Josko Gvardiol, a star defender from the previous World Cup, will need to do similarly in this competition.
Germany
Germany wants to win the European Championships and become the first host country to do so since France in 1984, but Julian Nagelsmann’s squad needs help. Germany can still turn things around because they have a talented squad that includes Ilkay Gündogan, Joshua Kimmich, Leroy Sané, and Jamal Musiala. However, they are up against a tough group.
Belgium
The so-called “golden generation” of Belgium has now largely disappeared from the scene, but Romelu Lukaku continues to score goals for Domenico Tedesco’s team on a regular basis, and two exceptional players, captain Kevin De Bruyne and custodian Thibaut Courtois, should recover from injuries in time for the competition.
