France's Kylian Mbappe reacts during the international friendly against Canada.
Credit: Reuters
Bengaluru: The Euro 24 is the last major competition for some of the sport’s stalwart names. France’s record goalscorer Olivier Giroud has announced that he will retire following the event while Poland’s Robert Lewandowski, along with Portugal duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe could call time on their careers in the near future.
Groups D, E and F comprise pre-tournament favourites France and Portugal, while Belgium and the Netherlands’ assemblage of stars will vie for the perfect parting gift.
Group D
France seek to extend their dominance
France came agonisingly close to winning back-to-back World Cups in Qatar 2022 and are expected to continue their dominance at Euro 2024.
A squad of proven winners picked from a vast talent pool by a battle-hardened head coach Didier Deschamps, Les Blues have sufficient quality to make any contender feel green with envy.
Deschamps, who has occupied the hot seat for 12 years, must be credited for instilling the winning hunger and mentality among his troops.
And Deschamps is not one to tinker with a winning combination. He has picked an experienced squad, with 18 members featuring in a World Cup final.
Much of the two-time winners’ hopes will hinge on Kylian Mbappe and his support act featuring Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud.
The two-time winners also have an experienced back-line and midfield options bustling with talent, resulting in no dearth of options to pick from.
Netherlands are fresh off a run to the quarterfinals in the 2022 World Cup and will prove to be tricky customers with their innovative formations and varied styles of play.
Ronald Koeman, in his second spell as head coach, has built his team around the principle of physicality and ensured that the Oranje are hard to beat.
Despite an injury epidemic to their defensive options, Netherlands still have Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake and Matthijs de Ligt.
Midfielders Frenkie de Jong and Teun Koopmeiners have also been ruled out due to injuries, and that is a body blow to the Dutch.
The attack features Memphis Depay and Cody Gakpo. Jeremie Frimpong, one of the unsung heroes of Bayer Leverkusen’s scintillating season, will be one to look out for.
Count Poland and Austria out at your own peril. Both sides are contenders for grabbing one of the four ‘best third-placed’ teams spots for the last 16, and can be dangerous in the knockouts.
Ralf Rangnick has overseen a shift in Austria, making them into a high-pressing machine.
Robert Lewandowski, Poland’s leading all-time goal-scorer, will look to end his major career with a swansong story.
But Lewandowski and fellow striker Arkadiusz Milik picked up an injury during the run-in. While the latter has been ruled out, captain Lewandowski will miss the opener with a thigh injury.
Teams: France, Netherlands, Austria, Poland
Group E
Belgium's golden generation chase fading dream
With many of their star players retired or finding themselves on the other side of 30, this could be the last opportunity for some of Belgium’s golden generation to claim a major trophy.
Domenico Tedesco’s Red Devils have some modern day giants among their ranks. Kevin de Bruyne, Leandro Trossard, Jeremy Doku and Romelu Lukaku comprise a fearsome attacking quartet, while Timothy Castagne, Jan Vertonghen and Thomas Meunier add experience to their defensive ensemble.
Thibaut Courtois, despite starting the Champions League final, misses out.
Belgium were in good form in the friendlies against England and Republic of Ireland. They are expected to breeze through a group comprising of Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine.
Ukraine faced an uphill task to qualify but made it through sheer perseverance. Stars such as Oleksandr Zinchenko, Mykhailo Mudryk, La Liga top scorer Artem Dovbyk and Andriy Lunin feature Serhiy Rebrov’s side.
Slovakia might have lost Marek Hamsik to retirement, but defensive bedrock Milan Skriniar and midfielder Ondrej Duda, along with goalkeeper Martin Dubravka are some experienced heads for Francesco Calzona to turn to when in need of inspiration.
The Slovaks reached the round of 16 in 2016 but failed to make it past the group stage at Euro 2020.
Calzona will be looking to make amends in the international sphere after a disastrous campaign as Napoli head coach. The 55-year-old, who was in charge of both Napoli and Slovakia till the end of May, has been relieved of his Serie A duties and will turn his focus to the Euros.
Romania missed out on Euro 2020, but remained unbeaten throughout the qualifiers. Spurs defender Radu Dragusin and Ianis Hagi, son of Gheorghe, will be the key personnel.
Teams: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine
Group F
Portugal primed to carry scintillating form
While age seems to be catching up with Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portugal star, now 39 and in his 11th major tournament, remains as sharp and determined as ever.
Roberto Martinez’s squad have an embarrassment of riches and were the only side to win all their 10 qualifying games while posting the best attacking (36 goals scored) and defensive (2 goals conceded) records. But a 2-1 defeat to Croatia on Saturday displayed some weaknesses.
The 2016 winners did look a better side without Ronaldo in the World Cup, but the man knows all about silencing his critics on the biggest of stages.
Joining Ronaldo in attack is Bruno Fernandes, Rafael Leao, Bernardo Silva, Diogo Jota, Joao Felix along with Goncalo Ramos and Pedro Neto.
Ruben Dias stands out as the leader in defence, alongside old warhorse Pepe and the versatile Joao Cancelo.
Czech Republic will look to build on their quarterfinal finish last time out. Bundesliga winner Patrick Schick will lead the attack, while West Ham's Tomas Soucek, the only player in the side with over 50 caps, bolsters the midfield.
Georgia will compete as an independent country at a major international tournament for the first time and will be keen to make a mark. Their livewire Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has seen his stocks soar with his displays for Napoli.
Georgian coach Willy Sagnol, who was a part of Bayern Munich for nine years, will have first-hand knowledge about the conditions.
Turkey, who lost all three of their league matches in 2020 Euro after being considered dark horses, will be without injured duo Caglar Soyuncu and Enes Unal.
A lot will hinge on the displays of talismanic midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu and the mercurial Arda Guler, who ended the season on a high for Real Madrid.
Teams: Portugal, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Turkey