The Gryphon Gazette

By Mihir J. ‘25 and Ollie B. ‘25

It’s that time of year again. In tandem with the summer 2024 Paris Olympics, the UEFA European Football Championship, or the Euros for short, will bring international soccer back into the spotlight this coming summer. Bringing together the best European teams, the Euros promises world-class soccer and global competition. In this article, we share with you our predictions for the group stage winners and our prediction for the champion of the Euros. 

Group A consists of Germany, Switzerland, Scotland, and Hungary. We predict that Germany will win the group and Switzerland will be the runner-up. 

As the host nation, Germany will have the home-field advantage as well as the benefit of having a majority home crowd for most of their games. Recently, however, Germany has been unable to achieve the same global dominance they had showcased at the 2014 World Cup, getting kicked out of the group stages in the past two World Cups and losing to England in the round of 16 in the 2020 Euros. Nevertheless, with veteran player Toni Kroos and upcoming stars like Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz coupled with their home-field advantage, we are confident that Germany will win this group. 

The other three teams look strong as well, each being a solid contender for second place. While both Scotland and Hungary have strong teams this year, we believe that Switzerland will likely overpower them with veterans such as Granit Xhaka and other great players like Manuel Akanji and secure second place in the group. 

Group B looks like another very strong group, consisting of Spain, Croatia, Italy, and Albania. While Spain had a rather rough performance during the 2022 World Cup, given their talented lineup and their semi-final performance at the 2020 Euros, it is unlikely that they will be defeated in the group. 

For second place, we see a close game between Italy and Croatia. Italy has had a mixed performance in recent years: they won the last Euros in 2020 and yet they were unable to qualify for the last two World Cups. Croatia on the other hand has been strong in their recent international performances, reaching the 2018 World Cup final and the 2022 World Cup semi-final. However, in recent years, Croatia’s star players, like Luka Modric, have become very old. Due to this, we think that Italy will take second place in the group while Croatia will still get to pass through in third. 

Group C consists of England, Denmark, Serbia, and Slovenia. The three Lions have arguably the most talented team of the tournament. Additionally, they have performed very well over the past three international tournaments, making the 2018 World Cup finals and the 2020 Euros finals. They will be led by star players Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka, who are both young but filled with incredible talent and tenacity. Therefore, it seems unlikely that anyone will beat England in this group. 

For second place, it is unclear who will fare better between Denmark and Serbia. Denmark will be led by Rasmus Hojlund while Aleksander Mitrvoic will bring Serbia into the runner-up position. While we can’t decide who will win between the two, it is likely both Serbia and Denmark will advance to the Round of 16 in the tournament. 

Group D has what many believe to be the fan favorite to win the tournament: France. The group also contains the Netherlands, Poland, and Austria. France really needs no introduction. Having won the 2018 World Cup final as well as being the runner-up in the most exciting (and most watched) World Cup in World Cup history, France is certainly the top contender to win the Euros. With players such as Olivier Giroud, Ousmane Demebele, Antoine Griezmann, and of course, their lead star: forward Kylian Mbappe. 

The Netherlands also has a very strong team this year. They played extremely well in the 2022 World Cup, almost beating Argentina, the 2022 World Cup champions, in the quarter-finals. They have talents Virgil Van Digk and Cody Gakpo as well as a loaded midfield which will make them a strong team that will continue further into the tournament. However, considering the talent of the French side, it is unlikely that they will beat France in the group stage. 

Group E is probably the weakest group in the tournament, consisting of Belgium, Ukraine, Slovakia, and Romania. We, surprisingly, actually think that Ukraine will win their group. With talents such as Mykhailo Mudryk and Oleksandr Zinchenko, we believe that Ukraine has the potential to perform much better than others are expecting. 

After Ukraine, we think Belgium will finish second. Well past their 2018 World Cup prime, they still have incredible talents such as Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku. But as their star players are both relatively old for professional soccer players, there is definitely a limitation to what these two players can do for the team. Due to the weak nature of the group, we also think that Romania will likely accumulate a solid amount of points, allowing them to advance further into the tournament.

The last group of the tournament, Group F, contains Georgia, Turkey, Czechia, and Portugal. As many others probably do, we believe that Portugal will win this group. Making the quarter-finals in the 2022 World Cup (which they unfortunately lost in a shocking upset to Morocco), the team somehow didn’t seem super connected, with their most acclaimed and well-known player, Cristiano Ronaldo, starting on the bench. However, with younger talent with the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, and Ruben Dias, they will most likely still be able to comfortably win the group.

After Portugal, we think that Turkey will be able to clinch second place. Although they had a somewhat rough showing during qualifying, due to the lack of talent in Czechia and Georgia, Turkey will likely finish second in the group.

Lastly, our prediction for the winners of the whole tournament. As many of you probably predicted, we think that France will likely win the 2024 Euros. Coming off extremely strong performances at the past two World Cups (1st and 2nd place) and still having insane talent, it seems unlikely that they will lose. However, the team we want to win is England. With a talented roster, we hope England will finally be able to achieve the success they have been striving for in recent years and bring it home!