Home of football statistics and historyThe 2021 European Championship is approaching rapidly as the 2020/21 season in club football edges to a close.
Euro 2021 is so close you can almost feel it, as fans across the Old Continent gear up for a feast of football.
Reigning champions Portugal will try to stun Europe again as they did in 2016. But several questions require answers.
Can England end 60 years of pain? The odds for Euro 2021 certainly suggest so. Can Belgium justify the number one spot in the FIFA ranking? Can France do what Spain did a decade ago? Is Joachim Low capable of leading Germany to the top of Europe?
Let’s take a look at five top favourites to lift the coveted award.
Portugal
Eder’s extra-time winner against France in the 2016 Euro brought Portugal their first title in major international tournaments.
Fernando Santos, who was at the helm of the Selecao in France, is still holding the reins, aiming to become the first coach to win back-to-back European Championships.
Meanwhile, Portugal look to replicate Spain’s impressive success from 2008 and 2012 and become only the second nation to defend the European title.
The 66-year-old has a squad jammed-full of world-class players at his disposal, including Juventus’ X-factor Cristiano Ronaldo.
From the Manchester City trident, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva, through Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, to Jorge Mendes’ colony at Wolverhampton, Portugal boast one of the strongest rosters in Europe.
Stationed in Group F, alongside former European champions France and Germany and minnows Hungary, the reigning holders’ resolve will face a stern test from the very beginning.
Belgium
Belgium are FIFA’s top-ranked nation and for a good reason. They have reached the final tournament as qualifying Group I winners, winning all ten qualifying fixtures by an aggregate score of 40-3.
Up to this point, Roberto Martinez’s men are the only national team to top the FIFA ranking without ever winning a major tournament. For years, De Rode Duivels have been up there with the world’s best selections but with no end product to show off.
The Belgians will be desperate to overcome their final tournament lethargy and prove they are not just a star-studded cast unable to shine on a big stage.
Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne will have a point to prove this summer after both players led their sides to titles in respective domestic championships.
Belgium are overwhelming favourites to finish top of Group B in the upcoming tournament, as they face the likes of Denmark, Finland and Russia.
England
Following a top-four finish in the World Cup in Russia three years ago, England have set the benchmark high going into the 2020/2021 European Championships.
A third-place finish in the 1968 Euro remains England’s best achievement in the final European tournament, with the Three Lions last managing to reach the semi-finals in 1996.
However, it has been a while since England had such potential in their squad as they do now. Gareth Southgate can rely on Harry Kane, Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Mason Mount to navigate his side to their first-ever European title.
In addition to fellow United Kingdom rivals Scotland, England will face 2018 FIFA World Cup runners-up Croatia and the qualifying Group A adversaries Czech Republic.
France
FIFA’s second-best ranked nation set their sights on their first Euro title since 2000 when David Trezeguet’s golden goal propelled France to the trophy at the expanse of Italy.
Les Bleus were inches away from lifting the European crown as a host nation back in 2016, only to see their dreams crushed by Portugal in the big final. Didier Deschamps’ men quickly bounced back from a shocking failure to win the 2018 FIFA World Cup in style.
France have advanced to the final tournament as the qualifying Group H victors, with a record of eight triumphs from ten matches and a +19 goal difference.
With rejuvenated Paul Pogba and lightning-fast Kylian Mbappe on the team, Deschamps will stake his claim for the coveted prize that would see him win the World Cup and Euro both as a player and a coach.
Standing between them and knock-outs are Germany, Portugal and Hungary in the so-called ‘Group of Death.’
Germany
When it comes to the final tournaments, the Germans are always there, sniffing around and mounting challenge for the titles.
Die Mannschaft last won the European trophy in 1996, bettering the Czech Republic 2-1 in the final at Wembley, the same venue that will host this year’s final.
Germany’s last shot on the title was ended by Fernando Torres, who nudged Spain over the finishing line back in 2016.
Joachim Low, the same guy that led them to the World Cup crown in 2014, is still in charge and hungrier than ever to prove the doubters wrong. The whispers about Hansi Flick replacing Low in the national team dugout have spread across Europe like the coronavirus.
Since this might be the 61-year-old’s final major tournament with Germany, Low will be determined to finish what he started in 2016.
Veterans like Manuel Neuer and Ilkay Gundogan, accompanied by a core of top-class young talents, such as Joshua Kimmich, Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Leroy Sane, will have their say this summer.
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