The 2024 Euros

 Greetings, I am 15-year-old Garrett Zhou, a student at Durham Academy High School. I enjoy studying, exercising, playing soccer, and maintaining discipline in general. My history with soccer is fairly straightforward: I began playing when I was 7 years old, and at the age of 12, I was chosen for the ECNL regional Carolinas team as the top player in the state. I was chosen to travel with 20 players from my club, NCFC, to play against NY Red Bulls Academy, PDA Academy, and NYFC Academy that same summer. I'm currently with the second-ranked NCFC 09 ECNL club.

If you are a soccer fan, then you know that the Euros are coming. This means a post about my opinions on who is going to win, dark horse, and many other things. Firstly, though, we have to go through some basic information about the Euros. 

This Euros, held in Germany, starts on June 14 and is available to watch on FOX and FS1 in English, and Vix in Spanish, and 5 group stage matches will be exclusive to Fubo. There are 24 teams in the Euros, and Georgia is the only country out of those 24 to be making its debut appearance at the Euros. The final will be streamed on July 14 at 3pm EST and can be streamed on FOX and FS1. 

Now, for my predictions. 

Firstly, group A consists of Germany, Scotland, Hungary, and Switzerland. I believe that Germany has been having a very good run of form lately and will top the group. The second qualifier is more difficult, but I do think Switzerland will qualify as the second-place team.

Group B consists of Spain, Croatia, defending champions Italy, and Albania. This is a group of death, but I believe that Spain tops the group, followed by Croatia, but I think that Italy still qualifies as the third-place team. Sorry, Albania. This is a tough one.

Group C consists of Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, and England. England, with all of its talent, will top the group, but it won't be easy. Second place is so tough to choose, but I would put my money on Denmark just because Vlahovic has yet to be in the best form and Mitrovic is getting a little old. Serbia comes third, and Slovenia comes at the bottom of the group. 

Group D consists of Poland, the Netherlands, Austria and France. World Cup Finalists France have looked strong recently and will top the group. Then, it's whether Robert Lewandowski can really show up big-time for Poland. He performs very well individually, but the Dutch still qualify as the second-place team, with Poland and Austria battling it out for third place, with Poland coming in third.

Group E consists of Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine. This is a relatively weak group, and I believe that even though Belgium hasn't looked the greatest in recent matches, they will prevail as the number 1 of the group. Ukraine certainly played well during qualifying, and just tied Germany, one of the strongest teams coming into EURO 2024. With the whole world on their side, I think they qualify as the second-place team. Romania and Slovakia are 3 spots apart on FIFA's national team rankings, but I believe Romania will come in third and Slovakia will come in last. 

Group F consists of Turkey, Portugal, Georgia, and the Czech Republic. I think that Portugal has looked good and tops the group with a perfect or near-perfect record. With Khvicha Kvaratskhelia leading Georgia to their first-ever EURO, I just don't think they have the depth or the experience to go through at this stage. They will finish bottom of the group. Turkey looks good, and the Czech Republic looks good, but I think Turkey with Arda Guler as their star boy goes through. 

Now, for the knockout stages, I can't really go through all of the matches, but I will say that in my opinion, the team that is most likely to win the EUROs is France, but I would really love Portugal to win because it would be a great sending off from EURO duty for Cristiano Ronaldo, the competition's top scorer. I think that the team that surprises us the most will be Germany. I think they will do very well. 

Here is a link for the EURO's schedule: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/page/uefaeuro/euro-2024-bracket-fixtures-schedule-finals

Always, thanks for reading, and hope you have a great day!


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