Euro 2024: Team count before opening

According to experts, the championship title is still just a dispute between the "giants" and host Germany is one of the candidates.

The race of the big names

Except for Denmark, all other teams have sent their preliminary lists to the tournament organizers, of which 8 teams including France, Hungary, Serbia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Belgium, Portugal, Georgia even sent their official 26-member list instead of waiting until the deadline on June 7.

It is not difficult to "name" the candidates capable of reaching the final, including winning the championship, such as Germany, France, England, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium...

The French team is highly regarded compared to the rest thanks to its squad of players who are reaching their peak form, a combination of generations of talented players, including Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, Aurelien Tchouameni, N'Golo Kante, Dayot Upmecano, Wiliam Saliba, Adrien Rabiot... Even the bench of the "Gaulois Rooster" is full of names that any team would desire.

Euro 2024: Điểm quân trước giờ khai mạc- Ảnh 1. — England are strong candidates for the Euro 2024 championship race. Photo: JBTEAM

Similarly, England have always been one of the strong candidates for the championship in every tournament they have participated in, even though the team has not yet touched any major title in nearly 6 decades. The whole world is familiar with the names of the best players such as Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, John Stone... and they will follow coach Gareth Southgate in the campaign to conquer the top of Europe this time after missing out 4 years ago on a penalty shootout in the final match right in London.

In addition to possessing a combat-ready force, England and France have also played very consistently in recent times. France has reached the World Cup final twice in a row, and the Euro final once, while England reached the quarter-finals of the most recent World Cup and the Euro final once. In the Euro 2024 qualifiers, England and France also have an unbeaten record and are leading their groups.

France has the second highest odds of winning the championship (4:1), just behind England (100:30) and only the host Germany is predicted to be strong enough to make things difficult for these two "giants". Not yet reaching their best form, their achievements in the last 4 major tournaments are very mediocre, but coach Julian Nagelsmann's team has all the factors of "heavenly time, favorable location, and harmony" for the goal of winning the number 1 title at home this time.

Like the French team, the host Germany is a collective team that combines young talent with veterans, many new factors have made an impression on the continental football field in recent times such as Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, Niclas Fullkrug... Coach Julian Nagelsmann is breathing into the team a fresh, attacking style of play and "Die Mannschaft" deserves to be expected at the Euro on home soil this summer.

Belief in "dark horse"

Names like Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and even defending champions Italy, according to the media, if they play to their full potential, can completely create a surprise in this tournament. "Does anyone think Italy will win Euro 2020 on England's home ground? Or Portugal won the championship in France when they eliminated the host country in the Euro 2016 final? Most of the players who brought Italy to the title have retired from the national team or are on the other side of the decline of form, similar to Portugal, but they still have a generation of talented players, worth waiting for" - GOAL news site analyzed.

In modern football, it is rare for smaller teams to be able to break into the championship race. Fairy tales like Denmark 1992 or Greece 2004 are in the past as Europe's top tournaments have returned to their original order. However, no one can stop the Czech Republic, Denmark, Türkiye, Croatia, Ukraine or Austria from impressing with their determination.

At Euro 2024, the champion team will receive 8 million euros and the runners-up will receive only 5 million euros. Semi-finalists will receive 4 million euros, quarter-finalists will receive 2.5 million euros and 1.5 million euros if they reach the round of 16. Each team participating in Euro 2024 will receive 9.25 million euros and each win will receive 1 million euros, and a draw will receive 500,000 euros.