Tournament favourites
Group A: France
Hosts France are a balanced side with everything going for them. Midfielder N’Golo Kante, Blaise Matuidi, Paul Pogba make it a formidable side.They’ve got homefield advantage which is worth around 0.6 extra goals per game, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis of the World Cup.
Group B: England
England have the required arsenal at every position. England are fourth favourites to win Euro 2016 with most bookmakers heading into the Championship and that relates to the value of their squad. Roy Hodgson’s 23 players have a combined worth of £334.5m with Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling the most valuable at £35m.
Group C: Germany
Germany’ focus on youth development to produce future stars is their biggest asset. Four World Cup wins — 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014 — and three European Championship triumphs — 1972, 1980, 1996 — mark them down as one of the most successful football nations ever.
Group D: Spain
Spanish teams have the best record of not losing finals in recent years. In the last 10 years of finals in the Champions League, Europa League and major tournaments at senior level, Spanish sides have only lost two of 13 games, and those two matches were against other Spanish teams. In the last two Euros finals, Spain beat Germany (1-0, 2008) and Italy (4-0, 2012).
Group E: Belgium
If FIFA rankings are true and every team beat the lower-ranked team, Belgium, world No. 2, look like the eventual winners. Belgium have been European football’s ‘dark horses’ for so long now. Their 23-man group plays for an elite club somewhere on the continent, from Chelsea to Barcelona, while they are finally approaching the peak of a core generation that has been highly-fancied for some time.
Group F: Portugal
Portugal reached the semifinals four years ago but were eliminated by Spain on penalties and Fernando Santos’s men are looking to go all the way in France. Captain Cristiano Ronaldo, their key man, has urged his teammates not to get carried away by the 7-0 romp over Estonia ahead of their campaign at the Euro 2016.
