Euro 2024 Betting Preview
Who will be crowned the champions of Europe this summer?
That’s a question that will be answered at Euro 2024, with the quadrennial tournament heading to Germany in June and into July. Italy will be the defending champions after defeating England on penalties at the rescheduled 2020 tournament. Can they retain their title, or will Gareth Southgate’s side go one better than in 2021?
Elsewhere, vanquished World Cup finalists France will be looking to add to their stacked trophy cabinet; Spain, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands will be dangerous; and hosts Germany seem to be improving under their latest head coach, Julian Nagelsmann.
What can we expect from the Euros? Let’s take a closer look at the action in this Euro 2024 betting preview.
Where and when is Euro 2024?
After a nomadic Euro 2020 in which 11 cities shared hosting duties, this year marks a welcome return to the one-country format for Euro 2024. Germany will host the European Championships for the first time since 1988, with ten cities – including Munich, Berlin, Dortmund, Frankfurt and Cologne – sharing the games. The group games will be played in June, with the opening game between Germany and Scotland taking place on June 14. The final set of group encounters will be held on June 26. This will give way to the end of the tournament, with the Round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals. The final is scheduled to be played at Berlin’s Olympiastadion on Sunday, July 14.
Which teams are playing at Euro 2024?
No Euro 2024 preview would be complete without taking a look at the teams vying for the trophy and who top the sports betting odds. As always at these big events, the host nation qualifies automatically. This means Germany were spirited straight into the group phase of the competition. Every other nation has had to qualify for the right to challenge for the crown, however. Spain, France, England, Türkiye, Belgium, Portugal and Denmark are among those to top their qualification groups, alongside surprises such as Hungary, Romania and Albania.
The nations finishing second in their qualification groups also made it into the finals draw, with Scotland, Netherlands, Italy, Croatia, Czech Republic, Austria, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Switzerland using this pathway to book their place in Germany.
Three other places are ringfenced for the winners of the qualification playoffs. We’ll soon know whether Wales, Poland, Ukraine, Iceland, Georgia and Greece will make it to the finals.
Euro 2024: Group A preview
In front of their home fans, Germany will be expected to end their lengthy run without a major international trophy in 2024.
However, playing on home soil hasn’t always been much of an advantage in the European Championships; France were the last host nation to lift the trophy back in 1984. Before that, it’s back to 1968 and Italy’s triumph in the final, after a replay against Yugoslavia.
Germany have appeared in more European Championship finals than any other country – six, to be exact, winning three of them. Can they make it a magnificent seventh in 2024?
The jury is very much out, although a recent friendly win over France has raised expectations somewhat. Nagelsmann has plenty of talent at his disposal, but the Germans have flattered to deceive on the big stage for a decade now since winning the World Cup in 2014.
Scotland, meanwhile, will be looking to improve on their showing at Euro 2020, where they finished at the bottom of their group without winning a game. This is a squad well marshalled by Steve Clarke and one that tends to perform at a level greater than the sum of its parts – as the Scots did when beating Spain at Hampden Park in March 2023.
Switzerland will be aiming for a place in the Round of 16 or better. They only won four of their ten qualifiers, but that was enough to see them finish second in their group behind Romania. Although world-class talent is thin on the ground, they did make it out of Group G at the World Cup in 2022, defeating Cameroon and Serbia along the way.
As for Hungary, this will be their third consecutive appearance at the Euros. They made the most of an agreeable qualification group, but there’s plenty of talent in their squad, including names such as Peter Gulacsi, Willi Orban and Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai.
Euro 2024: Group B preview
Spain are the headline act in Group B, although you might question whether this is a vintage Spanish squad. It’s certainly not on par with the double World and European champions of 2008-2012. Players such as Aymeric Laporte, Dani Carvajal and Alvaro Morata command respect, but it’s a leap of faith to see this Spain side win Euro 2024 or even top Group B, for that matter. That honour may go to Croatia, a nation with an outstanding record in major tournaments. They finished third at the 2022 World Cup and reached the final of the same competition four years earlier. Although they haven’t always performed on the Euro stage, this is a team that knows how to take care of business in tournament football.
The veritable “group of death” is completed by Italy, who hadn’t qualified for the tournament at all until their very last group game – just barely squeezing over the line ahead of Ukraine. Like Spain, this is not a vintage Italy; expect their title defence to end in disappointment.
Credit to Albania, who have qualified for only their second-ever Euros appearance. They’ll have their work cut out for them in a stacked group, but they deserve praise for defeating teams like Poland and the Czech Republic in qualifying.
Euro 2024: Group C preview
England expects to perform well, but will Southgate’s men deliver? There was disappointment all-round when they failed to capitalise on fate and happenstance at the 2021 edition when playing their semi-finals and final at Wembley Stadium.
However, a youthful side is now a couple of years older and more mature, with Jude Bellingham a midfield maestro of supreme talent. Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, James Maddison and Harry Kane are just some of those to benefit from his creative talents.
Southgate will need to find the right blend for his starting 11, but he has the players at his disposal to end England’s six-decade wait for a major title. There’s a reason they are the pre-tournament favourites to lift the trophy, after all.
They’ve got a comfortable group, too. Denmark will be a worthy adversary, but Serbia and Slovenia are respectfully considered the types of teams that have benefitted from the expansion of the European Championship to 24 teams from the prior 16.
Euro 2024: Group D preview
You could see the deflation on the faces of the French players when they lost in the World Cup final on penalties. Will that loss have left scar tissue or simply added more resolve to an already talented bunch?
There’s quality from front to back in this France squad, including the generational talent that is Kylian Mbappe, but they lack a striker to replace the evergreen Olivier Giroud. At 37, does he have another big tournament in him?
The Netherlands showed up well at the World Cup, reaching the quarter-finals before running into eventual champions Argentina. Their issue is that they were paired with France in qualifying, finishing four points and some 16 goals in the goal difference column compared to Les Bleus. There is no reason to expect they’ll upend that form in Germany.
Austria reached the Round of 16 at Euro 2020, although it’s hard to see them finding a way past France and the Netherlands. The final Group D participant will be Wales or Poland, who meet in a playoff final. Browse Group D Betting Odds
Euro 2024: Group E preview
Belgium’s golden generation has, by and large, failed to live up to the hype in major tournaments. In fact, they’ve only gone past the quarter-final stage once in the past decade or more of the Kevin de Bruyne era.
Why? Only those involved can answer that question, but this is a new generation under head coach Domenico Tedesco. De Bruyne is still around, but now his colleagues include Jeremy Doku, Lois Openda and Leandro Trossard. Perhaps that big title the Belgians crave will remain elusive in 2024.
Slovakia and Romania have both done well in qualifying for Euro 2024, especially Romania, which went unbeaten in a group that included Switzerland, Belarus, and Israel.
However, the flyer in Group D may well be the nation that qualifies via the playoffs; Ukraine or Iceland will be looking to finish second in this company behind Belgium.
Euro 2024: Group F preview
Will this be Cristiano Ronaldo’s last appearance at a big international tournament? We seem to say that every two years about the evergreen forward, but at 39, his days are numbered in the red shirt of Portugal.
It’s interesting that the Portuguese don’t necessarily need to lean on CR7 for goals anymore. Goncalo Ramos, Rafael Leao, Joao Felix and Diogo Jota are just some of the players who are able to fill the void. A midfield of Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Matheus Nunes is not exactly short of talent, so Portugal look to be a solid bet to reach the latter stages.
Group F is rounded out by Türkiye, who finished above Croatia in their qualification group; the Czech Republic, who finished below Albania in theirs; and the winner of the Path C playoff between Greece and Georgia.
Euro 2024 betting tips
Now that the full draw has been released for Euro 2024, punters can begin to plot their bets – and the brackets have not necessarily been kind to them.
Assuming that England and France win Group C and D, respectively, they would be on course to meet in the semi-finals. These are the two most likely winners of the tournament, so for them not to potentially meet in the final – or at least have the opportunity to do so – is a shame.
Therefore, the Euro 2024 betting tips for the bottom half of the draw will, perhaps, come down to who you think will win a straight shootout between England and France in Dortmund. The more interesting betting can be found in the top half of the draw, where opportunity knocks for those eyeing a deep run.
Germany, Italy, Spain, Croatia and Portugal are likely to be in the mix, and of the bunch, it’s the latter that appeal the most.
They have class in abundance and big tournament experience; odds of 17/2 with LeoVegas, at the time of writing, have each-way value. Even if Portugal were to lose in the final, punters would be paid out at 1/2 odds for the place – or around 4/1, approximately.
Otherwise, it’s a question of choosing between England and France in the bottom half of the draw.
The best Euro 2024 betting markets
The outright category is only one of the Euro 2024 betting markets you can try here at LeoVegas.
We’re also offering prices for each individual group, including group winner or top-two finish, as well as prices on which players will make it into Gareth Southgate’s final England squad. We also have odds on who will the Euro 2024 top scorer.
You can expect hundreds of different betting markets for every single Euro 2024 game. From match results, goals, and corners to cards and handicaps, you can bet on it here at LeoVegas.
Euro 2024 FAQS
When is Euro 2024?
The tournament kicks off with the opening game on June 14, with the final taking place exactly a month later on July 14.
Who is favourite to win Euro 2024?
After deep runs at Euro 2020 and World Cup 2022, England have been installed as the betting favourites for Euro 2024. France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Portugal are just some of those available at shorter prices.
How to bet on Euro 2024
There are so many different ways to bet on Euro 2024, with the best of the odds available at LeoVegas. You can bet on individual games or on the tournament outright, with plenty of daily specials available throughout the event.