Euro 2024 - Off Topics Debate and Prediction thread

[AdahnGorion]

Hi everybody and welcome to the European Championship in Football.

Its coming home... to Madrid
The tournement is now over and Spain won the championship against England with a 2-1 vicotry. Spain have been the best team in the tournement playing some wonderful colourful football.

Big Congratulations to SPAIN! Enjoy your victory


This thread will showcase all groups, matches and so forth and they will be updated now a then when matches have been played. Before we move into predictions, I will showcase all groups and scheduled matches.


EURO2024 will start Friday 14 June and end 14 July
Germany will host this competition and there are 10 host cities (these will include ie. Allianz Arena, Olympiastadion, Westfalenstadion, and more)

The opening match (Match 1) will be 21:00 CEST the 14th of June and it will feature
Germany against Scotland.

Lets look at the qualified countries and their groups.

Link to groups here and showcased below.
https://www.uefa.com/euro2024/standings/

(Edit, simplified groups, since steam is tricky. Will simplfy more once the tournement starts.)

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L Pts Qualification
1 Germany (H) 3 2 1 0 7 Advance to knockout stage
2 Switzerland 3 1 2 0 5
3 Hungary 3 1 0 2 3 Possible knockout stage
4 Scotland 3 0 1 2 1 Eliminated

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L Pts Qualification
1 Spain 3 3 0 0 9 Advance to knockout stage
2 Italy 3 1 1 1 4
3 Croatia 3 0 2 1 2 Possible knockout stage
4 Albania 3 0 1 2 1 Eliminated

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L Pts Qualification
1 England 2 1 2 0 5 Advance to knockout stage
2 Denmark 2 0 3 0 3
3 Slovenia 2 0 2 1 3 Possible knockout stage
4 Serbia 2 0 2 1 2 Eliminated

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L Pts Qualification
1 Austria 3 2 0 1 6 Advance to knockout stage
2 France 3 1 2 0 5
3 Netherland 3 1 1 1 4 Possible knockout stage
4 Poland 3 0 0 3 0 Eliminated

Group E

Pos Team Pld W D L Pts Qualification
1 Romania 3 1 1 1 4 Advance to knockout stage
2 Belgium 3 1 1 1 4
3 Slovakia 3 1 1 1 4 Possible knockout stage
4 Ukraine 3 1 1 1 4 Eliminated

Group F

Pos Team Pld W D L Pts Qualification
1 Portugal 3 2 0 1 6 Advance to knockout stage
2 Turkey 3 2 0 1 6
3 Goergia 3 1 1 1 4 Possible knockout stage
4 Czech Rep 3 0 1 2 1 Eliminated


This years group stage is abit different and that is becasue that the 4 best 3rd places gets to go into the knockout phase. The knockout phase will consist of a Round of 16, then Quarter-finals, then Semi-finals and at last, the Final.


Round of 16

Swi vs. Ita - Saturday - ended 2-0
Ger vs. Den - ended 2-0

Eng vs. Svk - Sunday ended 2-1 (OT)
Esp vs. Geo ended 4-1

Fra vs. Bel - Monday ended 1-0
Por vs. Svn Ended in a tie, Por won 3-0 on PS

Rom vs. Ned - Tuesday 3 - 0
Aut vs. Tur 2 - 1

Quarter-finals
(Matches are played at 18:00 and 21:00 CEST)

5 July 2024

Spain vs Germany Ended 2-1 after ET

Portugal vs France - France on penalty shootout

6 July 2024

England vs Switzerland - England won on penalty 6-4

Netherlands vs Turkey - Netherlands won 2-1



Now lets talk abit about the favourites for the title, outsiders and dark horses.

Favourites

England is the overall favourite to win EURO2024 and they do feature a very strong team.
They never won the EC and last time the championship did not come home in the final, instead it went to Rome.. Will this be the year?

France is right after and another favourite. They won the tournement twice, back in 1984 and 2020. They feature a very strong team just like England and often do very well at tournements.

Another Favourite is Germany, they are playing at home and this will give them a huge boost for sure, despite having some trouble during the last few tournements, they still feature a very strong team. They won the tournement 3 times (same as Spain and the most wins of all) Last win was 1996

Outsiders

Portugal, always a strong team and won the tournement back in 2016, but not as strong as it was in its golden period.

Spain, another strong contender and like Germany the most winning of the tournement, they won latest in 2012.

Italy, the current reigning champions from winning in 2020 (against England) they still have a strong team, but is not counted amongs the favourites, but never rule them out!

Belgium & Netherlands could be counted in here as well, both have strong teams, only Netherlands have won the tournement, they did so back in 1988 in one of their golden periods.

Dark Horses

Croatia and Denmark. Both teams have a decent squad and have made good results. Croatia was knocked out in round of 16 in 2020 and Denmark lost to England in the Semi final. Denmark have won the tournement once, back in 1992.


Now lets get on with a few rules here before we get to the prediction

Rules:

Be friendly towards everybody
Respect that we cheer for different teams
Remember this is a place to have fun with the tournement, so try to keep politics out if you can

Rules for predictions:

Make only one guess in each category and if we have any, the daily predictions that might come.

First prediction: Predict the Winner
Secound prediction: Predict the Group winners
Thrid prediction: Predict the Golden Shoe (most goals from a player)


You are free to come with other predictions, but these will be our main prediction focuses.



I will do try to pick some funny predictions here to leave room for some of yours (its never fun to pick the biggest favourites all the time)

Winner of the Tournement: Spain

Group winners - Germany, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey

Golden Shoe - Romelu Lukaku



Have a wonderful EURO2024 everybody and a wonderful day.

[AdahnGorion]

Zef Davenport a écrit :

AdahnGorion a écrit :

They have not played yet, hence the 0 played matches and 0 point.. (they are currently just in the draw order)

Thanks, but I meant the "Advanced to knockout" part.
Right now it feels like we're on our way to falling unconscious.

The first and secound place after the group stage ends will advance to the knockout phase (round of 16) and the 4 best of 3rd places will advance as well, the rest will be eliminated.

[Zilkenian Davenport]

AdahnGorion a écrit :

Zef Davenport a écrit :

Thanks, but I meant the "Advanced to knockout" part.
Right now it feels like we're on our way to falling unconscious.

The first and secound place after the group stage ends will advance to the knockout phase (round of 16) and the 4 best of 3rd places will advance as well, the rest will be eliminated.

So.... it's good. Thanks!

[Triple G]

AdahnGorion a écrit :

Penalty for Germany and :redcard: for Scotland (now its over for Scotland)

Ye, but they still have to play 45 minutes. Only hope for the match would be that Germany still does something, when they could concentrate on playing defensive and substitute a few people in. Because the tournament is long, so why exhaust the people?

Also the way he shot the penalty should be forbidden. Usually You can´t stop, but somehow it´s common nowadays, by slowing down extremely.

Anyways - was the only scene i saw from the match as i was eating. I´m unsure how much else i will see from the tournament. Didn´t see a minute of the last world championship, and the last EC, and the advertisement that the EC is brought to me by "Visit Qatar" or certain online sport bet services which were forbidden a few years ago, doesn´t help either, even more so if it´s brought to me by the taxpayers, while the UEFA doesn´t need to pay taxes even if the make some billions profits with it, which is the reason it´s located in Germany to begin with. Which is why i usually avoid football talk, as i wouldn´t say what people would like to hear, and it´s barely connected to the actual match, but "political"...

Anyways: have fun.

[AdahnGorion]

Triple G a écrit :

AdahnGorion a écrit :

Penalty for Germany and for Scotland (now its over for Scotland)

Ye, but they still have to play 45 minutes. Only hope for the match would be that Germany still does something, when they could concentrate on playing defensive and substitute a few people in. Because the tournament is long, so why exhaust the people?

Anyways: have fun.

Indeed they do, but Germany is not as agressive as in first half (logically) and Scotland is more defensive now.. I think Germany will score once or twice more due to 11 against 10.. but sometimes teams that are one down defend better (I know it sounds weird, but the mentallity change)

Germany will indeed not overdo it.

[Xautos]

Didn't expect Scotland to make any inroads, especially against Germany. Even though Scotland have some talent in their line up, they don't compare to the talent Germany have.

[AdahnGorion]

Xautos a écrit :

Didn't expect Scotland to make any inroads, especially against Germany. Even though Scotland have some talent in their line up, they don't compare to the talent Germany have.

The reason some think Scotland could tease Germany, was because the opening match often have some nerves and surprise results (not always ofc) and Germany have had some funky ones during the ages.

[AdahnGorion]

Tor Germany

4-0

[Triple G]

AdahnGorion a écrit :

but sometimes teams that are one down defend better (I know it sounds weird, but the mentallity change)

It´s usually more that way that the team with the more people thinks they don´t need to do anything any more, and then they do mistakes, the other team scores a goal, which then shows that team, that they still have a chance.

But as most likely all the people on the field are the products of professional football camps, in which they got into with young age - i don´t think this is a big problem nowadays. They know that the other team has to score, so they need to open up sooner or later i they want to win, or get a draw, in which case they could score another goal, like You reported here...

[Hobbit XIII]

Dear Germany I consider you honorary....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kiLApX8FbQ

[Xautos]

AdahnGorion a écrit :

Xautos a écrit :

Didn't expect Scotland to make any inroads, especially against Germany. Even though Scotland have some talent in their line up, they don't compare to the talent Germany have.

The reason some think Scotland could tease Germany, was because the opening match often have some nerves and surprise results (not always ofc) and Germany have had some funky ones during the ages.

Germany won't let that happen, not after a few previous attempts ended poorly as you mentioned. They want to go out and get the job done. I think they figure that they aren't going to ease themselves into it, they are going to go out and make a point right away. It's a very good opener for Germany, but then i didn't expect anything less and it will boost their confidence no end to win their first and score as many as they have.

That type of momentum could easily snowball into something better.

[AdahnGorion]

Xautos a écrit :

AdahnGorion a écrit :

The reason some think Scotland could tease Germany, was because the opening match often have some nerves and surprise results (not always ofc) and Germany have had some funky ones during the ages.

Germany won't let that happen, not after a few previous attempts ended poorly as you mentioned. They want to go out and get the job done. I think they figure that they aren't going to ease themselves into it, they are going to go out and make a point right away. It's a very good opener for Germany, but then i didn't expect anything less and it will boost their confidence no end to win their first and score as many as they have.

That type of momentum could easily snowball into something better.

They look like old Germany and that scares me abit (in a good way btw)
Whats next.. will England play poor and win the tournement...nah.. that is to wild after all.

Anyway. its almost over and 4-0 to Germany, they might put one more in.. but I think its going to end 4-0

Will be interesting with tomorrow.
Hungary vs Switzerland (might be even)
Spain vs Croatia (this one interest me the most)
Itay vs Albania (might be high scoring)

[AdahnGorion]

Scotland goal !! 1-4
First real attempt at goal..

[Triple G]

AdahnGorion a écrit :

They look like old Germany and that scares me abit (in a good way btw)

Can´t be, as it would mean they try to keep the ball in their lines till the end of the game, after they scored the 1:0.

[AdahnGorion]

Darius a écrit :

This game is a great argument to reduce the Euro tournament back to 16 countries. People want to see top teams competing, not subpar no-hopers like Scotland which isn't even a sovereign country to begin with.

I agree that it was more charming with less teams. It felt like you had to "earn" your place and there were not rewards for being 3rd.
In my opinion this is to large.. but change happens all the time and more countries (the smaller) will get a chance.

But think about it, teams such as Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Greece, Bulgaria, Wales, etc etc.. did not qualify. Norway was a rather large surprise for me (Ranked 24th in the world)

[AdahnGorion]

Triple G a écrit :

AdahnGorion a écrit :

They look like old Germany and that scares me abit (in a good way btw)

Can´t be, as it would mean they try to keep the ball in their lines till the end of the game, after they scored the 1:0.

Well not ancient Germany (albeit they were something)
Goal for Germany again 5-1