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Are England’s Lions Finally Ready to Win a Major Tournament?

April 19, 2024
Opinion

England go into this year’s European Championship with an excellent chance of winning their first major tournament since 1966. Gareth Southgate’s side have been knocking on the door in recent events and many pundits believe this year could be their time to shine.

 

The Three Lions were the runners-up at the last edition of the tournament, losing agonisingly to Italy in a penalty shootout in the final at Wembley. Southgate will be hoping his side can use that experience to help them in Germany this summer.

 

England Breezed Through Qualification

 

With six wins and two draws from their eight games, England had no trouble qualifying for Euro 2024. In the Paddy Power football betting, they head into the finals of the tournament as the 3/1 favourites to lift the trophy in Berlin.

 

The Euro 2024 betting suggests England have an excellent chance of making a winning start to their campaign. They are the 4/7 favourites to defeat Serbia in their Group C opener. Denmark are next up for England, a team they defeated in the semi-final of Euro 2020, while their final game of the group comes against Slovenia.

 

England begin the European Championship as the fourth ranked team in the world rankings. They have lost just one of their last 12 fixtures, with wins coming over Italy (twice), Ukraine and Scotland in that period.

 

Many of England’s Stars Have Had Major Success at Club Level

 

Southgate is fortunate that many of his players have had major success for their respective clubs. The likes of John Stones, Kyle Walker and Jack Grealish won the treble with Manchester City last season, with the third leg being their Champions League triumph in Istanbul.

 

 

 

England captain Harry Kane will be an important player for Southgate this summer. He is on course for the most successful season of his career. In what has been his debut year in Germany for Bayern Munich, the Englishman has scored 39 goals in all competitions.

 

Southgate has some tough decisions to make when it comes to his 23-man squad this summer. He may have to leave behind many big names as he will be unable to fit them all in the squad. The England manager will also have a lot to consider when it comes to his best starting XI. That’s a dilemma he will not complain about, as the Three Lions boss will have players to turn to if Plan A is not working in a game.

 

Rivals to England’s Euro 2024 Bid

 

The biggest rivals to England’s chances of Euro 2024 glory are likely to be France. The World Cup runners-up defeated the Three Lions in the quarter-finals in Qatar in 2022. That game finished 2-1 in favour of Les Bleus, as documented in the BBC match report.

 

 

 

Hosts Germany are also expected to put up a much stronger challenge to what they have at the last two major tournaments. They will have the home crowd behind them this summer. Euro 2024 begins on the 13th of June when Germany face Scotland in Group A. That will be the first of 51 matches at the tournament.

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