I'm not sold that Portugal gets go the final, I think they can easily finish 3rd and get a tough draw. Draw not withstanding, I'd say England and Belgium. Depending on how the groups finish, it could be wide open.
I thought it would be intetesting to give some reasons why I think Belgium will win this EUROs. — One of the most experienced squads in the competition (as well in terms of individuals in their clubs as well as a national team) — There is a significant improvement since the 2018 World Cup. Martinez made the team more flexible. Belgium is now a phenomenal team with possession as well as without possession. I think in modern football you need to be very good at both to win tournaments. — They added more depth to their squad in certain positions — They are fully aware of this being probably the best chance to win some silverware with this generation — Peak De Bruyne and peak Lukaku — Witsel's return is expected in the next games. He's a very good shield for the back three and connects Belgium's defense with the midfield — Very cohesive unit — The hype has faded a bit. All eyes are this time on France, Portugal and even England who are basically hosts — They developped a certain mental strengh that allows them to respond accurately to tough situations Obviously there can be made such a list for every contenders. Every team have their plus points. Of course there are also quite a few negative points on Belgium but I limit myself here to the plus points.
I don't know. neither Belgium nor Portugal have been setting the tournament afire thus far. Yes, Belgium had won both of their matches but Denmark really gave them all they could handle.
What happened to Joe? I was loving his genius takes on page 1. Bummer he got the red card, am assuming he was just a brilliant satirist of a homer Portugal fan? Anyway I still think Portugal is fine. If they finish third, their portion of the bracket looks likely to be the weakest, or one of the two weakest, their opponents would be Netherlands, and then the winner of a pairing between the runner ups of A/B, and at this point, all of those teams strike me as beatable for Portugal and if they handled their business, they'd make it to the semifinals having played vastly superior competition in the group stage to their opponents in the knockout rounds. Honestly that may be nonsense, I still have zero idea if the Netherlands are actually good or not, they're certainly productive on the scoreboard though. But man, if your Portugal, that path aint bad if they finish third in the group and advance, nobody but themselves to blame if they don't make the semi's. In fairness though, has anyone really put together great play? France has looked poor, England has looked ---, Belgium struggled badly and were the inferior side for long stretches against a Denmark squad absolutely shredded by what had happened over the past week, Germany looked like titans today, but not so titanic against France, Spain is clearly cooked, they're irrelevant going forward for a while (they were spectacular '06-'12, but since '12, they've been thoroughly uninspired and only getting worse over time). I think this is anyone's tournament amongst the teams with enough talent to win, they just need to grab it, France seems inclined to play efficient if unappealing soccer, and take too many risks while doing it, Germany has potential, we'll see if they can build some self-belief after this, I honestly don't know what's going on with England, is the coach out of his depth? Didn't seem like it 3 years ago, but to look so pedestrian in the group stage w/all that talent is absurd. Portugal showed a great deal of defensive frailty today, honestly the only teams that have played truly inspired, dominating soccer thus far feel like Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany in today's match (with Germany's performance today being the best performance of anyone). If Germany can take their group after France dropped 2 points today, definitely a possibility, they get a much easier path to the semifinals. Gonna be a real interesting final set of math day 3 games. A lot on the line.
With Switzerland now having 4 points and therefore almost certain to qualify as one of the four best 3rd place teams, Netherlands becomes the unlucky group winner to get the 3rd place team from Group F. Also worth noting is that the winner of Group D gets the 2nd placed team from Group F. So with England actually in 2nd place in Group D on goal difference, they might be better off playing for a draw against the Czechs and letting them win the group, since the 2nd place team in Group D gets the 2nd place team in Group E.
Group E is not finnished yet, and while it possible that Slovakia end 2nd in it is far from sure, and it seems more likely that Spain or Sweden ends 2nd in group E.
Belgium and Italy so far look to be in the best shape. That they're almost certain to meet in the quarter-finals is almost a shame. France remain strong favorites, certainly the best team on paper. Germany and Netherland have picked up good momentum. England and Spain have yet to find momentum (bear in mind that France didn't find any momentum until the knock outs at the World Cup). Portugal got a good wake up call against Germany. One of England, Portugal or Germany will probably go out in the next round. England look favorites should they top their group and meet one of them. Of the dark horses, Denmark look the strongest. Kjaer and Schmeichel have strong personalities. You have to like Denmark's chances against Wales and most likely after them the Netherlands, but the Netherlands are still strong favorites. If Denmark reach the semi-finals, if they can force a penalty shoot-out or get an extra-time winner against a superior side that tires out, they can get to the final. A repeat of '92 is possible. Sweden seem capable of an upset, especially with Lindelof marshalling the defense, but their route is not clear yet. If they finish first in their group, they will play one of England, Germany or Portugal probably in the quarters. It's hard to see them causing an upset in that event, but they look capable of reaching at least the quarters. I can't see any of Austria, Ukraine, Switzerland, Wales, Czech, Scotland, Croatia, Poland, and Slovakia going past the last 16. They look to be fodder at this stage.
Belgium - Italy would be kind of an early Final. The winner of that game will go all the way. For some reason I don't trust France this year. I had them winning the World Cup in Russia. However I'm reluctant to pick them to reach a third consecutive major final. I know the French mentality. They just can't handle the tag of being overwhelming favourites. They'll lose at some point in this tournament.
Belgium had the luck in 2016 to have only minnows on their side of the bracket and they bottled it when Spain, Italy, England, France and Germany were all on the other "free-for-all" side. So, no pitty with Belgium running too early into anyone this time
My favourites Belgium got stuck in a highly unfavourable bracket. Their potential path to glory Round of 16 — Portugal Quarterfinals — Italy Semi-finals — France Final — England away One thing is certain. If they were to come through all this they would be hands down the most deserved winners of all time.
From personal experience (with Denmark having played vs. both a fairly strong Germany and weak looking England) This England team is not going to reach the Final.
No, because England (unlike Belgium) play their own game, no matter the opponent and with no tactical awareness, which is also why Denmark beat them 1-0 away in the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League.
I'm Just looking at their bracket and I think England got a big chance now to reach the final. They are better than any team in their bracket. They'll beat Germany in my book. I think the Czech Republic will upset the Netherlands, leaving England as the only powerhouse in that half. As much I as I like Denmark without Eriksen I think semi-finals are their cealing.
I don't know about "hands down". Greece had a similar path in 2004. Yes, Greece! The team many people say didn't deserve to win or were a total fluke.
Germany has just had 3 battles against top teams while England has not could be a good advantage for Germany having those games under their belts
Could spin that another way and argue that England is more rested. That said, I am not sure I would say England's games were easy. Just less stressful.
I see it from another point of view. England come rested into this. Germany had to go to their limits three times. England got more in the tank and they should be able to shift into a higher gear. I think Germany's win over Portugal looks more like a fluke now. I don't expect Germany to get any better. At Welmbley England will go through.
In the knockouts they had Zidane's France, the best Czech Republic team in recent times (arguably better than the 96 team that reached the final - Nedved, Rosicky, Baros, Koller, Poborsky, Cech, Jankulovski, Ujfalusi - very talented team), and then re-defeating the hosts. I would say that anyone fully aware of their tournament run, coupled with their qualifying performance to get there, would know it wasn't a fluke. Quite impressive indeed.