MOST EXCITING FIXTURES EURO 2020 | Eisha Acton
Today I will be taking at a look at all the groups of the upcoming Euro 2020 tournament and picking out the most exciting fixtures and previewing how I think each match will go down. Let’s get into it.
1. Croatia vs England
A repeat of 2018 World Cup semi final. Since Mario Mandzukic scored the winner in that game, the Croatian team has changed a fair bit, with Mandzukic himself announcing his international retirement after their World Cup final. Vedran Corluka and Danijel Subasic who were also key cogs of that special squad that reached the final, they also announced their retirement after the final as well. Croatia still have amazing players in their team, Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Perisic, Ante Rebic and Andrej Kramaric just to name a few. Kramaric has had a standout season this year with 20 goals and 5 assists in 28 games.
England on the other hand haven’t had that much of a squad change compared to the 2018 World Cup. I’d say that the same 6–7 players would be in that starting eleven with a mix of new names that have emerged since then. I expect Mason Mount, Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho, Mason Greenwood and Declan Rice to be heavily involved for this tournament. England’s slight issue I feel is still their defence. A centre back pairing of Maguire and Stones doesn’t instil the most confidence in me but will it be enough to go far in the tournament? Yes, I think so because of Kane, Rashford and the players I mentioned above; I think England will outscore teams instead of relying on a solid defence.
As a prediction for this game, I expect an end to end game, especially with two lethal finishers for each side combined with a very good midfield, in my opinion I think England will scrape 2–1 in the final 10 minutes.
2. England vs Scotland
This is going to be quite the game. For one of the oldest rivalries in world football I’m expecting crunching tackles and heated passion. Head-to-head, it’s a close call — with England having won 48 times while Scotland has won 41 times in their 114 meetings. Scotland will be itching to beat England considering the fact that the last time they beat them was in 1999 ironically in the Euros. There’s no better time than now for Scotland to show up for victory. I’ve already discussed England’s team and their strengths and weaknesses and how their team will look. If we take a look at the Scotsmen — they have some decent players on the squad list. Scott McTominay, Kieran Tierney, Andy Robertson of course, John McGinn and Che Adams. These are all Premier League established players and form the backbone that Scotland can build their team around. I’d expect Scotland to be quite aggressive this game as emotions will be flying high and I think they will be rewarded. I’m predicting a 1–1 draw from this game.
3 France vs Germany
Two heavyweights of international football. Even though they are both big teams, they have been going in opposite directions since the last World Cup. Germany got humiliated and knocked out in a pretty easy group while France obviously won the whole thing and became world champions. Germany haven’t been the same beast that they were since then, with a few embarrassing defeats, for example a 2–1 loss to North Macedonia. This was definitely one of their low points and highlights their fall from grace. France on the other hand have kept their upwards trajectory and are one of the favourites for this tournament.
France for this tournament have decided to call up Karim Benzema. This is the first time he’s been called up since 2015 and adds to their star-studded attack. The French team is largely the same bar the call-up of Jules Kounde as this will be his first international tournament. After all, why would Deschamps feel the need to change the world champions? They probably have the best squad in the world and the most depth in each position to replace any potential injury and they can adapt to any situation. Germany on the other hand still have a very good team but it seems like fans have lost confidence in Joachim Low. Low finally decided to recall Thomas Muller and Mats Hummels after leaving them out for the last two years. Muller will be a big addition to the squad. 29 goal contributions in 32 games will add that much needed creativity and lethal instinct that they looked they have been missing. Hummels will also help to tighten up the defence. If Low gets his teams right then Germany could be a dark horse for this Euro tournament. With regards to this game, I think that France will have too much quality for Germany and they won’t be able to handle it. I think it will be a comfortable 3–1 win for France.
4 France vs Portugal
Another rematch of a big game, this time of the Euro 2016 final. That game was quite interesting, although it was only 1–0 to Portugal. France dominated the game, having many chances and they hit the woodwork multiple times as well so I think they do feel hard done by and they probably feel they should’ve won that game. If you’re Portugal and you see Ronaldo forced off due to an early injury, you’re fearing for the worst but Portugal dealt with it quite well and Eder came on and took his chance in extra time and the rest is history. Portugal have since levelled up, with the emergence of Bruno Fernandes, Ruben Dias, João Felix, João Cancelo and Bernardo Silva and obviously Cristiano Ronaldo. This makes Portugal one of the most technically gifted teams in the world and they should be a nightmare to play against. They did play in the Nation’s League in November of last year and France came away with a 1–0 win but the game was very even and could’ve gone either way. This encounter in the Euros will also be quite tough to call, given the quality of both sides but I feel it will be a closely contested draw, finishing 1–1.
5 Portugal vs Germany
We’ve already discussed both of these squads so I’ll try to keep it brief. The last times both of these teams played against each other was in the 2014 World Cup in the group stages and Germany thrashed them 4–0. This was of course the year Germany also won the World Cup so they were very dominant but the tide has changed massively in those 7 years. At this moment in time, I feel Portugal have too much for Germany to handle so I predict Portugal will give them a thrashing of 3–0. Germany will be hard pressed find the back of the net.
And there you have it. These are my prediction for the most exciting Euro 2020 fixtures and how each one will go down. Thanks for reading.