EURO 2024
๐ฉ๐ช Germany is the host nation, and they are joined by 23 other European nations.
๐ฆ๐ฑ Albania, ๐ง๐ช Belgium, ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ England, ๐ซ๐ท France, ๐ญ๐บ Hungary, ๐ต๐น Portugal, ๐ท๐ด Romania, ๐ช๐ธ Spain, and ๐น๐ท Turkey qualified as group winners.
๐ฆ๐น Austria, ๐ญ๐ท Croatia, ๐จ๐ฟ Czechia, ๐ฎ๐น Italy, ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scotland, ๐ท๐ธ Serbia, ๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia, ๐ธ๐ฎ Slovenia, and ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland qualified as group runners-up.
๐ฌ๐ช Georgia, ๐ต๐ฑ Poland, and ๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine made it to the tournament through the playoff round.
๐ฌ๐ช Georgia is making its debut in the tournament. It is a clean slate for many players in the team to write history. ๐ฆ๐ฑ Albania and ๐ธ๐ฎ Slovenia are making their second return, with Albania’s last tournament in 2017, while Slovenia hasn’t been here since 2000.
The host nation, ๐ฉ๐ช Germany, will kick the tournament off with ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scotland in Munich. Germany shares the record for the most titles in the tournamentโs history with Spain; both nations have three titles each to their name. Germany’s last title was in 1996. Germany were continental champions in the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s, with their latest Euro title coming in 1996. Granted that their form in recent years has not been great, the Germans will have a decent expectation from their team to grab the Euro title for the fourth time and set a new record.
๐ช๐ธ Spain remains the only nation to successfully retain the title, having picked it up again in 2012 after winning it in 2008. Theyโve entered every major tournament as a favorite but havenโt been able to pick up the silverware since 2012. The squad is young but good enough to get the job done this year. Just as it is with Germany, Spain can set the record as the first nation to win the Euro four times if they come out on top at the end of this tournament.
Pre-tournament expectations for ๐ฎ๐น Italy arenโt high, but they never seem to be when they go on to win tournaments. Italy has suffered some shocking defeats in recent years and has missed out on the last two editions of the World Cup. Italy hasnโt been at the top of its game since winning the last edition of the tournament, but as defending champions, this tournament hands them an opportunity to join Spain as a nation that has successfully defended the Euro title. A win for Italy will be their third Euro title to equal the record.
1984 was the last time a host nation won the Euro title. It was ๐ซ๐ท France, and they beat Spain in the final to win their first-ever international title. France is one of the tournament favorites this year, and can win their third Euro title if they meet expectations. The host nation has been to the final on three occasions since France did in 1984: Portugal in 2004, France in 2016, and technically, England in 2021, since the final was played at Wembley Stadium. All three were defeated.
1988 was the last time Germany hosted the Euro. The ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands won their first and only major title, beating the Soviet Union in the final. History could repeat itself and allow the Netherlands to come up with another title win. If the team can find a winning formula to gel as a unit, the Dutch have the talent to give any of the title favorites a good run for the win.
Should history repeat itself and bring about a new winner as it did in 1984 and 1988, then there are a few shouts, with ๐ญ๐ท Croatia as a dark horse, and ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ England and ๐ง๐ช Belgium leading the list.
๐ญ๐ท Croatia will run a team to the ground to get a win. Theyโve proven to be resilient and have gone farther than expected in tournaments. They havenโt picked up a major title, but theyโve come close enough to suggest they just might do that soon.
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ England comes into this tournament as one of the nations with the best set of talents. After coming up short in the last tournament, losing the final in a penalty shootout against Italy, England will be in Germany looking to go one step further to grab the gold medal.
If we are not already at the end, then we might have finally arrived at the end of the Belgian โgolden generation.โ ๐ง๐ชBelgium has boasted of individual talents for over a decade but couldnโt get past the line to pick up some silverware. The new faces of Belgium look promising and could put up a surprise success in the tournament, something that the โgolden generationโ couldnโt achieve.
Group A: (Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland)
Group B: (Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania)
Group C: (Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England)
Group D: (Poland, Netherlands, Austria, France)
Group E: (Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine)
Group F: (Turkiye, Georgia, Portugal, Czechia)
