As the Euro 2024 tournament gets underway in a few days, all eyes are on the Three Lions of England who are seeking a first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup triumph.
At the moment, some of the best betting sites for Euro 2024 have set Southgate’s men as favourites to clinch the trophy in Germany.
This is not surprising given the somewhat impressive performances in major football tournaments. In addition, England boasts of a formidable squad with an array of stars including Real Madrid’s UCL winner, Jude Bellingham and Bundesliga top scorer, Harry Kane and Aston Villa point man Ollie Watkins.
With these talents, England will be hunting for a first European title and hope to break the over 5 decade jinx of being trophyless.
However, for this to happen, they must first navigate through the group stages. In their group, the Three Lions will slug it out with Euro 2020 Semi Finalists Denmark and potential dark horses Serbia.
There is also Slovenia who are making their first appearance at the Euros since they last featured in the year 2000. They went through a tedious qualifying process.
England’s group stage showing at the 2018 World Cup, Euro 2020 finals and the 2022 World Cup is a reflection of how Southgate has mastered the art of pulling through the preliminary stages of major tournaments as group winners. This is why England are favourites to win Group C.
Southgate’s men are making their 11th appearance at the European Championship meaning they have played over 30 games in the competition without ever lifting the trophy.
Their shock exit against Iceland in Euro 2016 was their first loss in 18 European Championship games (excluding penalties).
Having missed out narrowly at the last edition losing to Italy via penalties, the three Lions look hungry and desperate to make history this time.
This hunger was demonstrated in how they made light of the qualification phase, clinching the ticket as Group winners, leading second place Italy by 6 points
That was their eighth straight qualification as group winners having failed to qualify for the 2008 edition.
While there are no doubts about England’s ability to scale through the group stages successfully, the big elephant in the room is how well will they be able to stand against other likely challengers especially when the tournament gets to the later stages
This is where Harry Kane will be very crucial for them. In the qualifying phase for instance, the Bayern striker had 10 goal involvement (8 goals, 2 assists).
Also, no player has scored more goals in the last three major internationals than Harry Kane. The England Captain has 12 to himself, with 6 in the Russia 2018 World Cup, 4 at Euro 2020, and 2 at the 2022 World Cup. Only Kylian Mbappe has matched Kane’s record in those competitions.
Going by this goal scoring prowess and his leadership quality on the pitch, Harry Kane is definitely a man to watch out for at the Euros this year and could be the key to England eventually becoming the champions of Europe for the first time ever.
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