Every four years there is a particular event that the entirety of Europe gets excited for. An event that causes the continent to come to a stop and bring all its attention to one specific place. The European Championships, also known as the Euros, is a soccer tournament that the best of the best countries in Europe take part in.
This summer, all eyes will be in Germany, where the 2024 European Championships will take place. The tournament opens up on June 14 as the hosts Germany takes on Scotland at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Since Germany is the host, it automatically earned a spot to take part in the tournament. The other 23 countries however had to go through the qualifiers to participate in this summer’s tournament. These 24 countries will play for one of the most prestigious trophies in soccer come the summer of 2024.
Germany is going into Euro 2024 with a lot of pressure on its shoulders. Being the host nation and having the talent that it has will instantly put it as one of the favorites in the tournament.
Young players like Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz along with returning veteran Toni Kroos will put the Germans midfield amongst the best in the Tournament.
Kroos returning to the national team will boost the team’s confidence in terms of bringing the trophy home. He took part in Germany’s 2014 squad that won the World Cup. His experience and know-how will be vital for the Germans this summer.
The two that are seen as early favorites in this summer’s Euros are France and England. Both were runner ups in the last two major tournaments as they both lost in heartbreaking fashion in the finals.
France lost the 2022 World Cup Final on penalties to Argentina in Qatar. And England faced defeat at the Euro 2020 final on penalties to the Italians on English soil in Wembley.
Both countries are viewed as having the two best squads in the tournament. And with both countries getting so close to glory in the last two majors, it has to be time for one of them to return to glory once again.
There are many countries in this tournament that are seen as “ones to watch out for” or “a dark horse.” Countries like Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Denmark and Italy are all countries that you can never count out of going far in the tournament. Especially the Italians and the Portuguese as they won the last two European Championships with a much different or younger squad than what they have now. But the know-how and experience that some of these countries have are qualities that are always vital when it comes to these international tournaments.
So who is going to win Euro 2024? Will it be one of the favorites? A dark horse? Or will an underdog story come into play—like when Greece shocked the world at the 2004 Euros and became European champions? Judging from past tournaments, an assumption can be made that the tournament will hold many surprises. And nothing is for certain.
Fox Sports have England and France as heavy favorites with +300 and +350 odds. Then followed by the hosts Germany at +500, with Spain and Portugal being the fourth and fifth favorites to win the tournament at +800 and +900.
