EURO 2024 is the 17th edition of UEFA’s European championship, a tournament that takes place every four years. The national teams from the countries that make up UEFA square off for the right to face the winner of the 2024 Copa America in the CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Champions in 2025. Twenty-four European nations have reached the final stage of EURO 2024, with Georgia reaching the finals for the first time. Qualification consisted of a tournament that gave slots to 20 teams that either won or finished as runner-up in their groups, and the last three open slots were determined by play-offs. Germany took the 24th slot as host nation. Some of the most surprising omissions from the field are Sweden, Russia and Wales. The Swedes had been in each European Championship since 1996. Wales had gotten to the knockout rounds of the previous European Championships but lost to Poland in the play-offs on penalties. Russia, of course, was banned because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Italy returns as the defending champion. As you consider your Euro Cup Odds, set to begin on June 14, let’s look at the format as well as some key players to focus on.
Euro Cup Odds & Soccer Betting News: Top Players to watch at UEFA EURO 2024
The 24 teams have been placed in six groups, as follows:
Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland
Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania
Group C: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England
Group D: Poland, Netherlands, Austria, France
Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine
Group F: Turkey, Georgia, Portugal, Czech Republic
From each group, the winners and runners-up will advance to the round of 16, as well as the four best third-place teams, determined on the basis of number of points earned in matches played. Subsequent tiebreakers consist of goal differential, goals scored, lower disciplinary points (issued for yellow and red cards), and then higher position in the ranking of European Qualifiers.
From the round of 16, single-elimination bracket play will be used to determine an eventual winner.
Euro Cup Odds: Key Players to watch in the EURO 2024
Kylian Mbappe is viewed one of the three best players in international soccer. He is a forward for France and has also become one of the linchpins for Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1. He won the “Golden Boy” award in 2017 and the “FIFA World Cup Best Player” trophy a year later, continuing his climb from a young player with potential to one of the icons of the sport. In 436 matches, he has notched 325 goals and dished out 153 assists. He makes France one of the top contenders in EURO 2024 because of his ability to take over a match all by himself.
Jude Bellingham has locked down an attacking midfielder role for England at the age of 20. He became the youngest player in the history of Birmingham City FC when he joined at the age of 16, and he hasn’t looked back since then. Playing for Real Madrid has given him global exposure, and in the La Liga season that just ended, he scored 29 goals in 31 matches. England has three challenging opponents in group play, and Bellingham’s contributions on offense will help pierce some of the more defensively minded sides in their group.
Lamine Yamal has become a fan favorite at Barcelona and has made the right wing position on the Spanish national team his own – and he’s just 16 years old. In 37 La Liga matches, he tallied five goals and five assists, and he is at the top of the shortlist of 100 players considered for Golden Boy 2024. Most teams have started assigning him multiple defenders as he has shown he can torch one-on-one coverage. In September, he became the youngest player ever to score in a EURO qualifier. On the other side of the offense, Nico Williams, who plays for Athletic Bilbao, also can produce quickly in open space. That means that teams can’t just focus on Yamal’s side of the offense.
Kenan Yildiz will get his fourth cap for Turkey’s over-21 team when he takes the field in EURO 2024. He has produced well at Juventus and, for the national team, has been solid as a second striker. After 10 years in the academy for Bayern Munich, he signed a deal with Juventus in 2022 that runs until June 2027. In the Coppa Italia, he notched a pair of goals in five matches, and his two goals in 27 Serie A matches for Juventus do not indicate the contributions he made creating plays for the offense.
Rasmus Hojlund is one of the tallest men in the tournament; the Danish forward is 6’5” and has several advantages over his opponents. He started his pro career with Atalanta and then moved to Manchester United, where the forward’s prowess has exploded. In just ten games for the Red Devils, he has filled the net with 19 goals and two assists. That’s the explosiveness that the Danish side will need if they want to escape a tricky group.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still a venerable name in the world of football. Even though he is now 39, he is one of the elite players in the world. He took an armored car full of money to transfer to Al-Nassr FC, but he also takes his responsibilities with the Portuguese national team quite seriously. He will appear at center forward in what might be the last European Championship of his career. He doesn’t dominate action from start to finish anymore, but he does have a way of showing up at the right time. In the Saudi Pro League, Ronaldo has been a dominant force with 35 goals and 11 assists in 31 matches.
Xavi Simons moved from PSV Eindhoven to RB Leipzig and has more than held his own in the Bundesliga, with eight goals and 11 assists in 32 matches. He also picked up 10 yellow cards, a sign that his speed and energy have a bit of an edge. As part of the Dutch national team, he will have plenty of room to demonstrate his play making creativity and energy. He has picked up 11 caps already, and the time he has already spent with the rest of the national team has allowed him to fit in seamlessly. In Champions League play this past season, he scored two goals and notched two assists in eight total matches.
Jamal Musiala is an exciting contributor to the German national team, even though he’s just 21. The Bayern Munich midfielder has made himself part of the attack, and his blend of precision and agility makes him very difficult to stop. For Bayern Munich, he had two goals and an assist in 11 UEFA Champions League matches and 10 goals and six assists in 24 Bundesliga matches.
A goal for KDB on his 100th Belgium appearance 🇧🇪💯#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/fwpWnU0W4e
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 6, 2024
Live EURO – Bet European Soccer Betting Lines For Today
Bet Soccer Betting Lines in Xbet Sportsbook
Euro Cup Odds
Love betting Soccer? | Xbet Sportsbook offers up to date Soccer lines for International Tournaments
