Euro 2024 is fast approaching, with 24 teams competing to lift the Henri Delaunay trophy in Germany this summer.
For most teams, there are only two warm-up games left before the tournament starts on June 14, when Germany will face Scotland in Munich.
The March international break provided a greater insight into each country’s preparations, with Germany’s 2-0 victory over France being one of the most eye-catching results.
All the strongest countries seem fallible going into the European Championship, and it looks like it would be an open tournament with a probability to go deep into the knockout rounds for any team that manages to get its act together.
Here, Independent assesses how each nation is doing ahead of Euro 2024.
1. France
France has not been European champions since 2000, but will arrive in Germany as one of the favorites to lift the trophy after reaching the last two World Cup finals. They have each the best player of the tournament, Kylian Mbappe, and the strongest in terms of depth – players like Real Madrid’s Eduardo Camavinga and Inter’s out-of-form Marcus Thuram can only be on the bench. Didier Deschamps continues to be in search of the correct mix and balance, as the recent defeat to Germany showed, but expect France to seek out it in the knockout rounds.
2. Germany
Julian Nagelsmann has transformed his midfield by parachuting in Toni Kroos, who has retired from the national team, and early signs suggest the gamble could also be working. With Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz in the wide attacking positions, Kai Havertz leading as a false nine and Ilkay Gundogan in the No. 10 position, this revamped German team is a dangerous prospect. And because of their home-field advantage, Germany suddenly looks like a contender to be European champions again, almost thirty years after Euro ’96.
3. England
This is Gareth Southgate’s fourth major tournament as England manager – and possibly his last – and he can have the strongest squad in his history. Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane are LaLiga and Bundesliga’s top scorers at the time of writing; Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka are two of the best attacking players in the Premier League; Kobbie Mainoo and Cole Palmer seem like future leaders. England’s Achilles’ heel stays defense, as shown by mistakes in the recent friendly against Belgium, but they’ve the attacking strength and tournament experience to assist them reach the final.
4. Portugal
Portugal was the only team to attain an ideal qualifying record, winning 10 games out of 10, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring 10 goals. An unexpected friendly defeat to Slovenia during the March international break set off alarm bells, and Ronaldo emerged with characteristic emotion at the end. However, Roberto Martinez will bring one of his best squads to Germany this summer, with Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Pedro Neto, Joao Felix, Diogo Jota and Rafael Leao amongst a number of talented strikers.
5. Spain
An exciting latest generation of Spanish players shall be on display at this Euro because of the talents of Atletico’s Nico Williams and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal – 16-year-old Yamal is already one of Barcelona’s best players and was sensational for Spain in the friendly against Brazil at the Bernabeu. Young players will rally around Rodri, arguably the best midfielder in the world at the moment, and there may be quiet optimism that Spain could make a huge impact on Germany.
6. Netherlands
Ronald Koeman continues to change between wingers and the more typical Dutch 4-3-3 formation, and it was the latter that proved effective in March’s international friendlies, beating Scotland 4-0. The Netherlands’ problem stays the lack of a reliable goal scorer – none of the Dutch players scored greater than three goals in qualifying.
7. Italy
The reigning champions have been unconvincing since beating England in the final at Wembley three years ago. They did not qualify for the 2022 World Cup, then finished third in the Nations League after which cruised through Euro qualifying ahead of Ukraine, with two defeats to England along the way. As with many larger nations, a serious problem for Luciano Spalletti is the lack of goals amongst his forwards, but Italy can never be underestimated in terms of major tournaments.
8. Belgium
The golden generation is gone and there isn’t any talent left to switch them, but a completely fit Kevin De Bruyne still represents one of the best players in Europe. Belgium went through qualifying unbeaten, conceding just 4 goals, and have not lost a match since being surprised by Morocco at the 2022 World Cup. Romelu Lukaku scored 14 goals in Euro 2024 qualifying and shall be key again.
9. Austria
Ralf Rangnick has made Austria play really good football. They qualified easily after beating key rivals Sweden home and away, then picked up two impressive victories during the March international break, beating Slovakia 2-0 and Turkey 6-1. David Alaba, Marko Arnautovic, Marcel Sabitzer, Christoph Baumgartner and Michael Gregoritsch have some good players to keep watch over. They have enough time to cause disruption in a difficult group with France and the Netherlands.
10. Hungary
Marco Rossi’s fluid team is a pleasure to look at at their best, yet an underrated force that has not lost a match since defeat to Italy in the Nations League in September 2022. Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai is the captain and an excellent player, while striker Barnabas Varga is a threat: he scored 4 goals in qualifying and has scored 26 goals in 30 games this season for Hungarian champions Ferencvaros.
11. Croatia
Croatia are still reliant on 38-year-old Luka Modric in midfield, but he continues to be putting in some outstanding performances, so who can blame them. They have a difficult group for Euro 2024 with Spain and Italy.
12. Denmark
The Danes qualified well for this Euro, and Rasmus Hojlund’s form in Manchester United gives us hope before the tournament. Manager Kasper Hjulmand led the team to the Euro 2020 semi-finals but they suffered a defeat in the World Cup and he continues to be in search of the right squad after moving from a back 4 to wingers.
13. Slovenia
England needs to be wary of Group C rivals Slovenia, especially giant striker Benjamin Sesko, who has scored 11 goals in 28 appearances for his country thus far and is having a formidable debut season at RB Leipzig. The surprise 2-0 victory over Portugal in the March friendlies was one other reminder of the threat posed by Portugal.
14. Czech Republic
The Czechs qualified well from a competitive group and have probability of advancing to the European Championships in a bunch with Portugal, Turkey and Georgia. Their key player is captain Tomas Soucek.
15. Scotland
An impressive qualifying campaign was followed by a disappointing March international break, during which Scotland were beaten by the Netherlands and, perhaps more worryingly, beaten by Northern Ireland. Scott McTominay was inspired by seven goals in qualifying – only Romelu Lukaku, Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe scored more – but that attacking threat was missing during a seven-game winless run. Scotland have two final games to organize for before their opening match in Munich against hosts Germany.
16. Switzerland
The Swiss have been working hard to take care of a comparatively light qualifying group, they usually don’t seem like they’ve the strength to cause any major shocks at the Euros. 32-year-old Xherdan Shaqiri from Chicago Fire stays one of the most dynamic attacking players.
17. Serbia
The Serbian team stays an enigma and is comprised of more talented players than its recent tournament results would suggest. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, captain Dusan Tadic, Sasa Lukić and Aleksandar Mitrovic have some quality, but they were beaten twice by Hungary in qualifying after which learned little from beating Russia 4-0 in a friendly in March.
18. Poland
The team, led by latest manager Michał Probierz, bounced back after a poor qualifying campaign and went through a dramatic play-off final against Wales in Cardiff after penalties. Robert Lewandowski is probably going playing in his last tournament, and Poland will need his goals to tug off a surprise in a difficult group with the Netherlands, France and Austria.
19. Slovakia
Slovakia qualified for the Euros from a narrow group and now find themselves in a competitive but open group with Belgium, Romania and Ukraine. Captain Milan Skriniar is the backbone of the defense, while left winger Lukas Haraslin will provide the impetus in attack after a wonderful season for Sparta Prague, through which he has scored 14 goals thus far.
20. Romania
Romania finished top of their qualifying group and were undefeated, but 16 goals in 10 games – 4 of which were against Andorra or Kosovo – were indicative of a team that lacked attacking spark. Star player and captain Nicolai Stanciu has spent the previous couple of years playing in China and Saudi Arabia.
21. Türkiye
Turkey has passed through a turbulent period in recent months with the sacking of manager Stefan Kuntz and the appointment of Roma legend Vincenzo Montella in his place. Montella began by leading the team to European Championship qualification, ahead of Wales and just behind Croatia, but the March international break was a disaster, with Hungary losing 1-0 and Austria losing 6-1. They are missing a robust goalscorer and Montella has his hands full attempting to get them able to face Georgia of their first Euro match.
22. Ukraine
It was heartwarming to look at the celebrations as Ukraine made it through the play-offs to Euro 2024. The team has talent, best seen in the shoes of Mykhailo Mudryk, their hero in the play-off final, and the nation will appreciate that’s behind their try and get out of arguably the weakest group, which incorporates Belgium, Slovakia and Romania.
23. Albania
Albania are top of their qualifying group, but after a terrible attract the Euro 2024 group stage, they may face Spain, Italy and Croatia – reaching the knockout stages can be a remarkable achievement. Armando Broja is their great hope, and Berat Djimsiti from Atalanta is a high-class defender and captain of the national team.
24. Georgia
Celebrations broke out in the streets of Tbilisi after Georgia qualified for its first major tournament in dramatic style, winning a penalty shootout following an exciting play-off final against Greece. The manager is former Bayern Munich French defender Willy Sagnol, and his important task is to construct a team that may find a way to get the best from Napoli star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Credit : www.independent.co.uk
