Euro 2024 Group winners acca: England, Belgium and Germany comfortable, Spain and France handed tough tests
- Thomas Ridley
- 28 May 2024
The continental football bonanza is back with 24 teams set to battle for one of the biggest trophies in football and we're breaking down each of the six groups for your group winners acca.
The draws been made, the squads have been drafted up and perhaps most importantly... the punditry teams have been announced.
Euro fever is almost upon us and we're in for a fantastic four weeks of football, with six competiitive groups drawn and all the big names involved.
We've had a look at the six groups on paper and dared to pick winners from each group for a Euro group winners acca.
Group winners acca
Group A
As ever the hosts are in Group A and Germany will be looking to banish memories of recent tournaments with raucous home support behind them.
Getting knocked out of the last two World Cups in the group stage will have been a bitter pill to swallow for the Germans, while their last outing in this competition saw them bow out at the hands of bitter rivals England in the round of 16.
Julian Nagelsmann is tasked with leading his country into this tournament on home soil and there's some exciting new talent coming through in the form of Jamal Musiala and Bundesliga player of the season Florian Wirtz.
They are joined in their group by Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland.
All three were present in Euro 2020, with Switzerland knocking out France but the other two failed to make it past the group.
Despite that, the Swiss shouldn't have enough for a German side on home soil.
It looks like the hosts should progress through to the knockouts as group winners fairly comfortably.
Group winner selection: Germany
Key fixture: Switzerland vs Germany (June 23, 20:00 BST)
Group B
Group B is one of the most wide-open in this year's tournament, with three sides capable of grabbing that top spot.
Three-time winners Spain are joined by defending champions Italy and 2018 world cup finalists Croatia.
Albania join the trio, but given the quality of their company, they are massively up against it.
Spain are the favourites to top this group, however they are ususally slow starters at tournaments and the presence of the Italians makes things tougher for Luis De La Fuente's side.
The Spaniards do have young talent in the form of Barcalona trio Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Pau Cubarsi as well as the experience of Rodri and Bayer Leverkusen's free-scoring full-back Alex Grimaldo.
Despite Spain's talent, you can never rule out Italy or Croatia.
The Croats have the nous to make it through the groups, with Luka Modric back for yet another international tournament but they have an ageing squad and are coming to the end of an era.
Italy have good attacking talent in the form or revitalised Atalanta striker Gianluca Scamacca and the exciting Federico Chiesa, who burst on to the scene in Euro 2020, if those two can fire up front and build on what's likely to be a dogged defence then we can see them narrowly claiming top spot.
Group winner selection: Italy
Key fixture: Spain vs Italy (June 20, 20:00 BST)
Group C
Pre-tournament favourites England are the star attraction of Group C, as they look to take advantage of what looks like a favourable draw on paper.
They have a repeat of their Euro 2020 semi-final with Denmark to look forward to, while they also face Serbia and Slovenia.
Despite their short price, the smart choice would be England, with several of their squad coming into the Euros on the back of brilliant seasons.
Jude Bellingham has just won the Champions League, Harry Kane has won the European Golden Shoe and Phil Foden won the Premier League Player of The Season award as he played an instrumental role when Manchester City won a fourth consecutive title.
The Danes aren't the side they were three years ago, with players like Christian Eriksen, Simon Kjaer and Kasper Schmeichael not getting any younger, but they do have young talent coming through in the form of Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund.
Denmark will fancy their chances of progression but in terms of the race for top spot, England should have too much for them, the same can be said for the Serbs, with their hopes being led by former Fulham and Newcastle man Aleksander Mitrovic.
Mitrovic will lead the line for Serbia and they can also depend on Dusan Vlahovic and Luka Jovic, so they will fancy their chances against the Danes in what will likely be a tussle for second spot.
Group winner selection: England
Key fixture: Denmark vs England (June 20, 17:00 BST)
Group D
France have been handed a tough assignment in Group D, with the Netherlands, Poland and Austria joining them in a competitive group.
France, captained by Kylian Mbappe, narrowly lost the 2022 World Cup after a penalty shootout defeat to Argentina in the final and they are looking to win their first Euros since 2000.
Mbappe's transfer saga has now come to an end and he will be fully focussed on leading his side to success in Germany.
He is joined in the French squad by the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Champions League winners Aurelian Tchouameni, Ferland Mendy and Eduardo Camavinga, and young star Warren Zaire-Emery to name a few.
The main rivals of the 2018 world cup winners will be the Netherlands.
Ronald Koeman is back for a second bit of the cherry and has a talented squad to call upon.
Led by Liverpool's Virgil Van Dijk, the Dutch squad includes the talented Xavi Simons, Mickey Van De Ven, Jeremie Frimpong and Cody Gakpo.
On their day they could give the French a run for their money but Mbappe and co should have too much for the Dutch.
Group winner selection: France
Key fixture: Netherlands vs France (June 21, 20:00 BST)
Group E
Belgium look to recover from a poor world cup in 2022 when they headline Group E.
Roberto Martinez had plenty of bites of the cherry with the country's golden generation but failed on several occasions and ended when they were dumped out of the groups in Qatar.
Domenico Tedesco has opted for a mix of youth and experience in his squad, with wise heads like Jan Vertonghen, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku being joined by young stars such as Jeremy Doku, Amadou Onana and Lois Openda.
They are joined by Romania, Ukraine and Slovakia, which looks like a comfortable draw for Tedesco's men on paper.
Out of that trio Ukraine probably have the best chance of getting close to Belgium.
The Ukrainians have exciting talent including Girona star Artem Dovbyk, Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk and their talisman Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Despite the tough test that the Ukrainians will give Belgium, we think Tedesco's side will clinch top spot.
Group winner selection: Belgium
Key fixture: Ukraine vs Belgium (June 26, 17:00 BST)
Group F
Last but not least it's Group F, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal the headline act.
Everytime we head into a major tournament thinking it could be Ronaldo's last, he keeps on going and he's been scoring goals for fun in the Saudi Pro League this season.
Since their victory in Euro 2016, the Portuguese, who are now managed by Martinez, have failed to produce on the biggest stage despite having a brilliant squad.
Ronaldo is joined by the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Rafael Leao making for a scary prospect and one who have the potential to make the latter stages.
Georgia, Czechia and Turkey join Ronaldo and co, with the Georgians looking a good prospect thanks to the talent of Napoli's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, while goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili will be key to their defence.
Turkey more often than not underwhelm, but the Czechs, who knocked out the Netherlands in Euro 2020, have a decent squad which includes Bayer Leverkusen pair Patrik Schick and Adam Hlozek as well as experienced West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek.
While the Georgians and the Czechs will offer Portugal a stern test, Martinez's men should still have enough quality to win the group.
Group winner selection: Portugal
Key fixture: Georgia vs Portugal (June 26, 20:00 BST)
