Euro 2024 is fast approaching and we’ve staked our good reputation at Planet Football in producing a totally unscientific ranking of the 24 finalists.
While many are tipping France or England to lift the Henri Delaunay trophy in Berlin on 14 July, plenty of underdogs look capable of upsetting the odds.
We’ve ranked every team at Euro 2024 from the teams we think have the least sunny prospects to the sides we’re tipping for a serious run in Germany this summer.
24. Albania
After qualifying ahead of Poland and the Czech Republic, hopes were high in Albania before being placed in a Group of Death with Spain, Italy and Croatia.
Twelve of their squad play in Europe’s top five leagues – the majority from Serie A – meaning they won’t be pushovers.
But Armando Broja and co will need a minimum of one shock result to progress from Group B.
23. Poland
We blame Dan James for the prospect of another tournament of huffing and puffing from Poland, playing ineffective defensive football while Robert Lewandowski gets cobwebs from inactivity.
In a group with France, the Netherlands and a sprightly Austria, it’ll be amazing if the Poles make the knockout stages – and it’d probably be to the detriment of the tournament if they do so.
22. Romania
Arguably the least-feted side in this year’s finals, Romania return to the big stage without possessing anything like the flair and ingenuity of their brilliant 1990s side.
An undistinguished Group E (with copper-generation Belgium as its seeds) means the Romanians might hustle a point or two, but they’ll likely be flying back to Bucharest after three matches.
21. Georgia
Every tournament needs a debutant to shake things up and Georgia will be the only nation making their bow at Euro 2024.
Napoli forwardKhvicha Kvaratskhelia is the star, while goalkeeperGiorgi Mamardashvili has impressed at Valencia.
Two winnable games against Turkey and the Czech Republic in Group F might see the Georgians sneak into the knockout rounds. But we wouldn’t bet our life savings on it.
20. Scotland
If the Euros had been staged last autumn, Scotland would’ve fancied their chances of escaping the group stages of an international tournament for the first time.
As it is, Steve Clarke’s side haven’t won in seven matches and looked particularly anaemic in their defeat to Northern Ireland in March.
Goals look especially hard to come by – their dominance against the Dutch recently translated itself into a 4-0 defeat – and all three Group A opponents look tricky in their own way.
The opening game against Germany should be a spectacle either way – we’re not sure Munich has enough steins for thousands of thirsty Scots.
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19. Slovakia
A smattering of good players and several names to cause Sam Matterface to wake up in a cold sweat. Might surprise a few people, but probably won’t escape the groups.
18. Slovenia
A smattering of good players and several names to cause Sam Matterface to wake up in a cold sweat. Might surprise a few people, but probably won’t escape the groups.
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17. Serbia
Serbia at major tournaments define the word ‘mercurial’ – possessing brilliant technical players, they usually walk qualifying before stinking out the finals like a fart in a lift.
Their best players, such as Dusan Tadic and Sergei Milinkovic-Savic, are either ageing or enjoying semi-retirement in Saudi Arabia.
But the goalscoring prowess of Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic means you can never fully discount them. England will be wary before their opening game on June 16.
16. Turkey
Who knows?
At their best, Turkey provide a dazzling unpredictability to major tournaments (think of their late-scoring Euro 2008 exploits).
At their worst, they come into tournaments as dark horses before providing all the resistance of wet tissue paper (think of three defeats at Euro 2020).
The truth lies somewhere in the middle this time – the Turks have some exciting young players and qualified ahead of Croatia, but their most recent result was a 6-1 thrashing by Austria.
Whatever happens, Germany’s large Turkish population will ensure the side essentially have three home games in the group stages.
15. Switzerland
Switzerland are part of the major tournament furniture these days (they’ve missed just one finals since 2004), but their side is currently caught between generations.
Whilst Granit Xhaka has enjoyed a brilliant season at Bayer Leverkusen, Xherdan Shaqiri is waddling around the MLS and the youngsters in the squad are incredibly inconsistent.
The Swiss will be hoping their tournament know-how squeezes them ahead of Scotland and Hungary in Group A.
14. Czech Republic
Always better than they look on paper, the smart money is on the Czechs hustling their way into second place in Group F behind Portugal.
West Ham pair Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal define this solid and reliable side, whilst Patrick Schick will just bang in another goal from the halfway line if things get hairy.
In all seriousness, the Czechs probably lack the flair to make a serious impression this summer.
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13.Denmark
Many of Denmark’s star performers – Kasper Schmeichel, Simon Kjaer, Christian Eriksen – are past their best and few are expecting a repeat of their run to the semis of Euro 2020.
But the Danes are still canny opponents, with Rasmus Hojlund giving them a new injection of life up front.
They’ll be well up for revenge against England on June 20 and we think they’ll finish second in Group C before bowing out to the hosts in the last 16.
12. Hungary
Arguably Europe’s most improved team over the past decade, Hungary will travel to Germany with a well-drilled team backed by thousands of black-shirted supporters.
Dominik Szoboszlai captains the side and is their one world-class operator, but plenty of the squad play in the Bundesliga and will relish the chance of bloodying the hosts’ nose in Stuttgart on June 19.
Plenty have tipped the Hungarians to be dark horses this summer. Don’t be surprised if they make the quarter-finals.
11. Croatia
Their feats in recent World Cups are staggering, but Croatia’s record at the Euros is significantly more patchy – they’ve never made it beyond the quarter-finals and look unlikely to this year either.
Luka Modric is readying himself for his final tournament (and we’ve been saying that since 2018), but the form of Josko Gvardiol at Manchester City suggests that Croatia’s run of world-class talent won’t end with the great man’s retirement.
In a tricky group with Spain and Italy, there’s every chance the Croatians won’t make it out of the group – but only the terminally foolish would fully rule them out.
10. Ukraine
Even without the unique motivation of representing their invaded country on the big stage, Ukraine are very capable of causing waves this summer.
A talented group of players – led by Oleksandr Zinchenko – play profecient, counter-attacking tournament football and find themselves in a favourable group alongside Belgium, Romania and Slovakia.
Over a million displaced Ukrainians now reside in Germany, ensuring they’ll be heavily backed inside the stadiums, and we won’t bet against them matching their quarter-final appearance from 2020.
9. Austria
Despite the injury to their captain and best player David Alaba, Austria are a relentless pressing machine under the leadership of Ralf Rangnick.
With plenty of capable Bundesliga operators in their side, the Austrians are many people’s dark horses this summer and it wouldn’t be a huge shock if they made the quarter-finals – at least.
8. Belgium
Many of the Golden Generation have been put out to pasture, but Belgium retain the generational talent of Kevin De Bruyne and the goalscoring aptitude of Romelu Lukaku.
Exciting young stars like Jeremy Doku and Arthur Vermeeren will central to the Red Devils’ prospects in Germany, but there are significant worries over the defence and star goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has been left out of the squad.
They’re in a weak group, but the smart money is on Belgium losing to the first big team they come across.
7. Spain
Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass. Repeat until the world is engulfed by the nearest black hole until Spain lose on penalties to a theoretically inferior opponent.
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6. Netherlands
Starved of quality in attack – Wout Weghorst is likely to see significant game time – the Netherlands possess strength in depth elsewhere and often menace their way to the latter stages of major tournaments.
Their game against France on June 21 will be one of the highlights of the group stages, while their final match against Austria promises intrigue aplenty as Ronald Koeman’s tight defence is confronted by Austria’s uber-pressing attack.
Finishing second in Group D would set them on course to a quarter-final exit against Portugal, which sounds about right.
5. Italy
With a dearth of young talent that extends back almost two decades, Italy’s star operator will likely be Luciano Spalleti in the dugout.
But that doesn’t mean the defending champions won’t be a threat this summer – Italy are always at their most dangerous when written off and several Serie A clubs have enjoyed successful European seasons below the Champions League.
However, the Italians historically follow major tournament success with a follow-up flop so all possibilities are on the table. But Spalleti’s genius should ensure they avoid that ignominious fate.
4. Germany
The hosts endured a shocking 2023, with friendly defeats against Colombia, Poland, Japan, Turkey and Austria making Die Mannschaft a laughing stock across the continent.
But the sacking of Hansi Flick and appointment of Julien Nagelsmann has revitalised the hosts, with March victories over France and the Netherlands restoring hope for the Euro 2024 hosts.
The return of Toni Kroos, who will retire after the tournament – is another shot in the arm for this talented squad. Expect them to go far.
3. England
While England ready themselves to finally win a major tournament, there are still plenty of concerns over Gareth Southgate’s squad from the absence of fit left-backs to the identity of the midfielder to play alongside Declan Rice.
And that’s without the increasing clamour for Phil Foden to play as a Number 10, which alongside Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane liking to drop deep, sounds like a classic case of too many cooks.
But several England players have just enjoyed the best season of their careers and Southgate possesses a frightening strength in depth in attack.
It’ll be considered failure if England don’t win the Euros this year. We think they’ll fall in the semis.
2. Portugal
While 39-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo limbers up for one final tournament, Portugal have plenty of stars at their peak in Ruben Dias, Bernado Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Joao Palhinha.
On the weaker side of the draw, Roberto Martinez’s men could feasibly go all the way – but we reckon they’ll fall at the final hurdle.
1. France
Is tipping France to win boring? Yes.
Is there a chance they’ll underwhelm before making an early exit? Of course.
But Didier Deschamps has the best set of players at his disposal and the level of tournament know-how that should see them edge England and Portugal in tight knockout matches.
Plus, they have Kylian Mbappe. End of debate.
