The 2024 UEFA European Championship is set to get underway this Friday as the hosts Germany take on Scotland. While I’m still disappointed Wales failed to qualify after losing to Poland on penalties in March, I’m really looking forward to the Euros, as I do every four years.
Here are my group stage and knockout round predictions, as well one player to watch on each of the 24 participating nations.
Group Stage
Group A
- Germany
- Scotland
- Switzerland
- Hungary
Group B
- Croatia
- Italy
- Spain
- Albania
Group C
- England
- Denmark
- Serbia
- Slovenia
Group D
- France
- Netherlands
- Austria
- Poland
Group E
- Belgium
- Ukraine
- Romania
- Slovakia
Group F
- Portugal
- Türkiye
- Czechia
- Georgia
Before I share my knockout round predictions, I wanted to share the format, for those who aren’t too familiar with the European Championship. 16 of the 24 participating nations advance to the knockout round – all group winners and runners up, as well as the four best third-place teams.
Knockout Round
Note: the winner of each match will be in bold.
Round of 16
- (B2) Croatia vs (A3) Switzerland
- (A1) Germany vs (C2) Denmark
- (F1) Portugal vs (C3) Serbia
- (D2) Netherlands vs (E2) Ukraine
- (E1) Belgium vs (B3) Spain
- (D1) France vs (F2) Türkiye
- (C1) England vs (D3) Austria
- (A2) Scotland vs (B2) Italy
Quarterfinals
- (B2) Croatia vs (A1) Germany
- (F1) Portugal vs (A2) Netherlands
- (B3) Spain vs (D1) France
- (C1) England vs (B2) Italy
Semifinals
- (A1) Germany vs (F1) Portugal
- (D1) France vs (C1) England
2024 UEFA European Championship Final
- (A1) Germany vs (D1) France
Players To Watch
- Germany: Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich – Bundesliga)
- Scotland: Billy Gilmour (Brighton & Hove Albion – Premier League)
- Hungary: Adam Nagy (Spezia – Serie B)
- Switzerland: Steven Zuber (AEK Athens – Greek Super League)
- Spain: Pedri (Barcelona – La Liga)
- Croatia: Luka Modric (Real Madrid – La Liga)
- Italy: Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan – Serie A)
- Albania: Arber Hoxha (Dinamo Zagreb – SuperSport HNL)
- Slovenia: Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig – Bundesliga)
- Denmark: Rasmus Hojlund (Manchester United – Premier League)
- Serbia: Luka Jovic (AC Milan – Serie A)
- England: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid – La Liga)
- Poland: Piotr Zielinski (Napoli – Serie A)
- Netherlands: Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig – Bundesliga)
- Austria: Christoph Baumgartner (RB Leipzig – Bundesliga)
- France: Antoine Griezmann (Athletico Madrid – La Liga)
- Belgium: Romelu Lukaku (Roma – Serie A)
- Slovakia: Ondrej Duda (Hellas Verona – Serie A)
- Romania: Ianis Hagi (Alaves – La Liga)
- Ukraine: Andriy Yarmolenko (Dynamo Kyiv – Ukrainian Premier League)
- Türkiye: Arda Guler (Real Madrid – La Liga)
- Georgia: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli – Serie A)
- Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr – Saudi Pro League)
- Czechia: Tomas Soucek (West Ham United – Premier League)
It should be an exciting month of football and for fans in Canada, you’ll be able to watch all 51 matches on TSN with kick-offs on the east coast starting at 9am, 12pm and 3pm!