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Euro 2024 is almost upon us and after a fantastic season of club football that culminated with Real Madrid winning their 15th Champions League final at Wembley, attention now turns to the international game, with Germany hosting the latest edition of the tournament.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side are one of the favourites to lift the trophy in the Euro 2024 betting and they open things up with their Group A match against Scotland at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena. The Germany boss will be hoping for a strong start returning to Bavaria, with the game hopefully a showcase of things to come.
The group stages go a long way to outlining who could go the distance in the business end of the competition. Here we’ve highlighted five group stage matches to watch at Euro 2024 that could prove to be massively influential.
Group F – Turkey vs Georgia
At Euro 2020, Turkey were tipped as something of a dark horse, but a disappointing campaign saw them fail to win a game and cost Şenol Güneş his job. Three years on, the squad has gained both valuable experience and a wealth of new talent, which combined, ensured they topped their group in qualifying ahead of Croatia.
Now the task is for Turkey to prove they are the real deal as they play their Group F opener against Georgia. It took the underdogs a playoff win over Norway to reach the tournament, but with the influence of Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the Georgians could pull off an upset.
Group D – Poland vs Netherlands
It looks to be a story of attack vs defence in the Group D encounter between Poland and the Netherlands, with the key battle of Robert Lewandowski against Dutch skipper Virgil van Dijk an exciting prospect.
Barcelona’s talisman ensures Poland have a fighting chance, but with Holland’s experienced squad, including Nathan Ake, Stefan de Vrij, and Matthijs de Ligt in defence, it could be a tough task for Lewandowski and Poland to get through Ronald Koeman's side.
Group C – Denmark vs England
A repeat of the Euro 2020 semi-final sees Denmark take on England, one of the favourites for the tournament. Gareth Southgate has changed his approach to squad selection, with the likes of Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips, who featured against the Danes in the 2-1 win at Wembley, all absent this time around.
Denmark will want to spoil any chances of football coming home, and while they may not command the same fervour amongst Euro betting offers, they have shown before they can compete with the big guns.
Group B – Spain vs Italy
The headline clash from all the group stage games has to be Spain vs Italy. The reigning Euros champions have a new look to them after several key players and manager Roberto Mancini all moved on from the Azzurri.
This will be a real test of mettle for the Italians, with Spain’s new generation offering a frightening blend of pace and power that is so different from the style that was so successful at Euro 2008 and Euro 2012. The big question is whether Italy can deal with the threat of Yeremy Pino and Lamine Yamal.
Group E – Ukraine vs Belgium
The final game of Group E will see Ukraine face Belgium, a fixture that could decide who progresses to the round of 16. Ukraine looked solid in qualifying, finishing narrowly behind Italy and England, whilst Belgium have one last chance to win something with their golden generation of players.
Red Devils coach Domenico Tedesco has already caused pre-tournament controversy when he dropped Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois despite returning from injury in time to win the Champions League, and if he is unable to guide the Belgians out of their group, it could spell an abrupt end to his time in charge.
