EURO 2024 kicks off TONIGHT… at last!
And our team of SunSport experts have had their say on who they think will leave Germany triumphant this summer.
The host’s chances at the Euros will be bolstered with the return of the experienced Toni Kroos, who returned from international retirement in March.
Defending champions Italy are placed in a tricky Group B, alongside three-time winners Spain and 2018 Fifa World Cup runners up Croatia.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the highest Euros goalscorer of all time, will head the Portuguese attack for a sixth time.
While bookies favourites England look to go one step better this time round and finally grasp a major trophy after an agonising 58 years.
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Here, SunSport’s football reporters offer their own predictions ahead of the festival of football that starts tonight at the Allianz Arena in Munich with Germany against Scotland.
DAVE KIDD
WINNERS: France. They have the deepest squad, the best player in the world in Kylian Mbappe and more experience than any nation at going deep in tournaments.
BEATEN FINALISTS: Portugal. A hugely-talented and well-balanced squad who are capable of going all the way — and should have done so in Qatar.
SURPRISE PACKAGE: Serbia. Very capable of beating England in Sunday’s opener and getting to the quarter-finals at least.
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Often under-achieve but they are in form and dangerous this time around.
PLAYER OF TOURNAMENT: Antoine Griezmann. Was outstanding at the World Cup but might even outshine team-mate Mbappe in Germany.
GOLDEN BOOT: Romelu Lukaku. Belgium have an easy group, in which their big centre-forward could build up an unassailable lead.
ONE TO WATCH: Florian Wirtz. Was Bayer Leverkusen’s star boy in their unbeaten Bundesliga season and is ready to translate his red-hot form on to the international stage for the host nation.
MARTIN LIPTON
WINNERS: Portugal. As long as Roberto Martinez has the courage to treat Cristiano Ronaldo as a squad member and not his star player. CR7 is 39, not 29.
BEATEN FINALISTS: France. Scheduled to meet England in Dortmund in the second semi. It might take too much out of the winner for them to recover for the final.
SURPRISE PACKAGE: Hungary. The glory days of the 1950s are long ago but quietly the Magyars are becoming quite mighty again.
Dominik Szoboszlai has shown his quality. Potential last eight side.
PLAYER OF TOURNAMENT: Bernardo Silva. Manchester City star has the freedom to play where he wants and if Portugal fly he will have the most powerful wings.
GOLDEN BOOT: Harry Kane. England might fall short but they should make the last four — so that is six games for the skipper to bag a bucketful.
ONE TO WATCH: Roland Sallai. Hungary right-winger has impressed at Freiburg and is coming into his peak at 27.
How Portugal have performed at the Euros with Cristiano Ronaldo
CRISTIANO RONALDO has been a model of longevity for more than two decades in an outstanding international career.
Euro 2004
After making his international debut in 2003, Ronaldo’s first Euros came in 2004.
Ronaldo marked his Euro debut with a goal in a 2-1 defeat to Greece – his first for Portugal.
He scored his second in the semi-final win over the Netherlands, but Portugal met Greece again in the final, losing 1-0 in shock result.
Euro 2008
Ronaldo was Portugal captain four years later but Euro 2008 was the least impactful tournament he’s had.
There was still time for a standout performance, though, as Ronaldo scored once and set up two more in a group-stage win over the Czech Republic.
Euro 2012
Playing at Real Madrid at the time, Ronaldo was the top goalscorer at Euro 2012, with three goals, including a brace in the group stage against the Netherlands.
Portugal’s quarter-final against Czech Republic was heading towards a stalemate with 10 minutes to go and they needed a special moment from him.
His powerful header in the dying minutes took Portugal to the semi-finals where they lost on penalties to Spain.
Euro 2016
Ronaldo scored three goals in Euro 2016, with Portugal crowned CHAMPIONS after defeating France 1-0 in extra time in the final.
After suffering an injury inside the opening 16 minutes against France, he was forced to watch from the sidelines.
Yet the Portugal captain became a cheerleader, and helped coach his team-mates to the historic victory.
He matched Michel Platini’s record of nine goals by the end of Euro 2016.
Euro 2020
Ronaldo made history again with FIVE goals at Euro 2020, the most of any player at a Euros.
Yet it was arguably Portugal’s least exciting affair, as they exited in the Round of 16 following a 1-0 defeat to Belgium.
With his goals in this tournament, Ronaldo became the top goalscorer at the European Championship with 14 goals.
CHARLIE WYETT
WINNERS: England. It really is now or never for Gareth Southgate and his talented squad.
BEATEN FINALISTS: Portugal. Along with France and England, Cristiano Ronaldo and Co are among the tournament’s best three teams.
SURPRISE PACKAGE: Georgia. Their first-ever major tournament but the Georgians could be a handful.
PLAYER OF TOURNAMENT: Jude Bellingham. Did not take long to become a fan favourite at Real Madrid and provided an assist for the key second goal in their Champions League final win.
He is going to be the best player in the world — and Euro 2024 could be his tournament.
GOLDEN BOOT: Bellingham. He has proved with Real that he knows where the goal is with 23 to his name in his debut season — and he could end up scoring more than Harry Kane.
ONE TO WATCH: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Georgia’s Napoli winger (left) is a terrific player and rediscovered his best form just before the end of the Serie A season.
DAN KING
WINNERS: Portugal. They had the quality and depth to have won the World Cup.
And if Cristiano Ronaldo can drag one final show from himself, they have a massive chance of winning this.
BEATEN FINALISTS: France. They are too good, surely, not to reach the final but once again perhaps not quite good enough to win.
Only a side with similar quality but better cohesion can stop them.
SURPRISE PACKAGE: Hungary. With Dominik Szoboszlai as their talismanic captain they’ve beaten some big teams. Now it’s time to do it at a tournament.
PLAYER OF TOURNAMENT: Bruno Fernandes. Manchester United’s captain can take out the frustrations of his club season on Europe with Portugal.
GOLDEN BOOT: Kylian Mbappe. If France play seven games, it will almost certainly be Mbappe’s goals that get them through.
ONE TO WATCH: Johan Bakayoko. The Belgian star of PSV Eindhoven’s title win is already on the shopping list of bigger European clubs.
A manageable group gives him the chance to show why.
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TOM BARCLAY
WINNERS: France. They have the best player in Kylian Mbappe and a manager in Didier Deschamps who knows how to get it done on the big stage.
BEATEN FINALISTS: Portugal. They have the most complete squad but question marks surround boss Roberto Martinez after he struggled to get the best out of Belgium’s golden generation.
SURPRISE PACKAGE: Hungary. Dominik Szoboszlai and Co showed how dangerous they are by thrashing England 4-0 on their own patch two years ago.
PLAYER OF TOURNAMENT: Kylian Mbappe. The world’s best player has just moved to the world’s biggest club Real Madrid, and will want to show he is le coq of the walk.
GOLDEN BOOT: Cristiano Ronaldo. The goal machine remains as prolific as ever.
ONE TO WATCH: Xavi Simons. Talented Dutch winger had such a good campaign on loan from PSG last season at RB Leipzig that Bayern Munich want to borrow him now.
JACK ROSSER
WINNERS: France. As much as we would all love to see England triumph, it is hard to look past the French. They have some making up to do after being knocked out by Switzerland in 2021.
BEATEN FINALISTS: Portugal. Roberto Martinez has an attacking arsenal any manager would envy. Behind the forward line there are some wily old operators.
SURPRISE PACKAGE: Austria. Boss Ralf Rangnick may well have been a flop at Manchester United, but he has really got Austria going.
They have six wins and a draw from their last seven games — including victory over hosts Germany.
PLAYER OF TOURNAMENT: Kylian Mbappe. Now leading France not only as their best player but also the captain, Mbappe will want to make another big impact.
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GOLDEN BOOT: Harry Kane. Fresh from an incredible goalscoring season with Bayern Munich, Kane remains England’s greatest hope of progress.
ONE TO WATCH: Warren Zaire-Emery. France’s 18-year-old sensation won the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year at PSG.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
