UEFA Euro 2024 Preview, Defending Champion Italy to Defend Its Title, England the Favorite

Leonardo Bonucci of Italy celebrates after scoring his team's third penalty during a penalty shoot in during the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship Semi-final match between Italy and Spain at Wembley Stadium in London, England on July 06, 2021. (Justin Tallis - Pool/Getty Images)

Italy will look to defend its UEFA Euro Championship title when the teams convene in Germany from June 14 until July 14.

The championship, which is played every four years, is considered one of the most prestigious tournaments in all of international sports and had a live match cumulative event audience of 5.2 billion in 2020, according to UEFA.

England is the pre-tournament favorite to win the title, followed by France, host Germany, and Portugal. Italy has the sixth-best odds to repeat as champions.

The teams are divided into six groups consisting of the following:

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, Czechia

England lost on penalty kicks to Italy in the 2020 final at Wembley Stadium. The Three Lions are once again coached by Gareth Southgate, who has been a steadying force for the National Team.

England’s attack is led by Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) and Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) who create continuous matchup problems for their opponents. England has several other dangerous forwards with Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Manchester City), and Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), all of whom have been mainstays with the National Team.

England is looking to earn its first major international championship since winning the World Cup in 1966.

“We are hugely excited to be part of the tournament, we know the expectation at home, we have developed a lot as a team over the last few years and we are getting used to these big games, so we are ready for that expectation and we hope we can give our supporters some more brilliant nights like we have over the last few tournaments,” Southgate said.

France, coached by Didier Deschamps, has been on an impressive run over the last decade, winning the World Cup in 2018 and finishing runner-up to Lionel Messi and Argentina in 2022. The French have also had an impressive run in the Euro championships, appearing in nine consecutive tournaments, second-most behind Germany (14).

The French are led by captain Kylian Mbappe, who is widely expected to move from Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid this summer. Mbappe is France’s third all-time leading scorer with 46 goals behind Olivier Giroud (57), and Thierry Henry (51).

Other key players for France include Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Ousmane Dembele, Adrien Rabot (Paris Saint-Germain), and Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid).

One of the bigger surprises was the inclusion of midfielder N'Golo Kanté, who plays for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad from Chelsea last summer and has not played for the National Team in two years. Kante has made 53 appearances for France and appeared in all seven games in the 2018 World Cup campaign. He scored four goals and had six assists over 41 appearances for Al-Ittihad this past season.

“I took this decision because I thought the French team would be stronger with him,” Deschamps said. “He was able to regain all of his football and athletic abilities by playing a lot of matches.”

Portugal, coached by Roberto Martínez, won the UEFA Euro Championship in 2016. The Portuguese have one of the world’s most prolific scorers in Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the National Team’s all-time leading scorer with 127 goals. Ronaldo also made the move to Saudi Arabia club Al Nassr from Manchester United in December 2022.

Ronaldo also has the most all-time appearances (25) and goals scored (14) in the European championships.

Portugal has the look of a potential champion after going 10–0–0 with a plus-34 goal differential during qualifying. In addition to Ronaldo, other key players include Diogo Jota (Liverpool), Joao Felix (Barcelona), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), and Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United).

Host Germany, coached by Julian Nagelsmann, has won three UEFA Euro Championships and is a darkhorse to add a fourth on its home soil. The Germans will get a boost from Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) who will play in the tournament after previously retiring in 2021.

Italy, coached by Luciano Spalletti, has won two titles in the Euro Championships. The Italians are always stellar defensively and are led by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain).