For the next 4 weeks the eyes of the soccer world will be on France for Euro 2016. For the first time in tournament history there will be 24 teams vying to become champions of European soccer for the next four years. Here is how the group stages will go down in the biggest tournament in Euro history.
Note: To accommodate the new 24-team tournament, the format for the group stages has changed slightly. The top two teams from each group will still advance to the knockout stages. However the four best third place teams will also advance to the knockout stages for a total of 16 teams.
Group A: 1) France 2) Switzerland 3) Romania 4) Albania
The pressure of being the host country should not faze France as they are the class of Group A. The French have one of the deepest teams in the tournament and should be early favourites to win the whole thing. The last time France hosted an international tournament was the World Cup in 1998 and things worked out pretty well for Les Bleus.
The only team in this group who could give France any trouble is Switzerland who have a solid core of young talent, but will have to settle for second place. With Romania only entering their second major tournament (the first was Euro 2008) and Albania making their Euro debuts, the group stage will be as far as they go.
Group B: 1) England 2) Wales 3) Slovakia 4) Russia
After falling flat on their face in Brazil during the 2014 World Cup, England will look to bounce back and be the winners of Group B. With a blend of young and veteran talent England has a more rounded team compared to previous tournaments.
Thanks to Gareth Bale putting his team on his back with stellar play Wales are in a major tournament since the 1958 World Cup. Wales should be one of the pleasant surprises of Euro 2016 and will follow their U.K. rivals out of Group B.
Slovakia could find itself fighting for one of the third places berths after shocking everyone in the 2014 World Cup by knocking out Italy. Meanwhile Russia, despite fielding an aging veteran squad, will be one of the tournament disappointments with their tournament ending prematurely.
Group C: 1) Germany 2) Poland 3) Ukraine 4) Northern Ireland
Like France, the reigning World Cup champion Germans are one of the teams to beat in this year’s tournament. Despite injuries to players like Marco Reus and aging players in Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski, The Germans have to much firepower with players such as Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller among others to not win group C. Germany looks to join Spain in winning a World Cup and Euro back-to-back.
Poland will be right behind Germany as one of the only teams to Germany fits in the qualifying round, beating Germany 2-0. Poland has a bunch of offensive firepower lead by Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Blaszczykowski.
After hosting Euro 2012 Ukraine will be another team looking for a third place berth due to a blend of youth and experience on it’s roster lead by Anatoliy Tymoshchuk and offensive playmaker Andriy Yarmolenko. With not a lot of star power behind them Northern Ireland will be one of the teams with an early tournament exit.
Group D: 1) Spain 2) Croatia 3) Turkey 4) Czech Republic
Spain look to bounce back from a humbling 2014 World Cup by setting their sights on a third straight European championship. While there still is the veteran core of players such as Iker Casillas, Cesc Fabregas, and Andres Iniesta there is a young core to back them up for another run at the title.
The remaining three spots in Group D will be fun to watch in one of the tournament’s most competitive groups. Croatia will squeak out second place over Turkey thanks to a very deep midfield lead by Luka Modric and a striker in Mario Mandzukic that knows how to put the ball in the back of the net.
Turkey will be a threat for one of the third place berths as they seem to always perform well in international tournaments. The Czech Republic will be the odd man out of this close group.
Group E: 1) Belgium 2) Italy 3) Ireland 4) Sweden
For the past few years Belgium has been seen as an emerging soccer power. Euro 2016 looks to be their coming out party as another threat to win the tournament. The team is full of young stars like Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku, Christian Benteke, and Eden Hazard that will help Belgium escape what some are calling the group of death.
With retooling by manager Antonio Conte after a poor performance at the 2014 World Cup, Italy will look to return to the form that saw them make it to the finals of Euro 2012. Their success will come from the defensive end lead by legendary goalie Gianluigi Buffon and his Juventus defenders Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, and Giorgio Chiellini.
Ireland could possibly surprise people this year and possibly earn a third place berth with their stingy style of soccer. Meanwhile Sweden will only go as far as Zlatan Ibrahimovic carries them, which is a daunting task in this group.
Group F: 1) Portugal 2) Iceland 3) Austria 4) Hungary
Portugal shouldn’t have any problems winning Group F. Lead by arguably the world’s best player in Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese have their eyes set on trying to win their first ever major tournament after coming up short so many times.
Despite being the smallest country to ever qualify in a European tournament, Iceland has a chance make some noise and shock the continent. Strong tactical play will be Iceland’s success after only conceding 6 goals in 10 qualifying matches. It helps that they get their match against Portugal done first and focus on the rest of the group afterwards.
Austria should be a lock for a third place berth. They are considered by some to be a tournament dark horse after winning nine of ten qualifying matches. Meanwhile Hungary should be happy just to have qualified after making their last Euro in 1972.