EURO2020.com reporters make their predictions
Thursday, June 10, 2021
Article summary
France are overwhelming favourites for UEFA EURO 2020 according to our survey, but the task of summing teams up through the medium of Martin Garrix threw up a broader canvas.
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EURO2020.com has reporters covering each of the 24 teams. We gauged their opinion on the eve of the finals, albeit denying them the right to choose their 'own' teams (in most cases, at least).
Jordan Maciel, Austria
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: N'Golo Kanté (France)
Top scorer: Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)
Breakout star: Jamal Musiala (Germany)
Best young player: Phil Foden (England)
Dark horses: Austria!
Austria's Garrix anthem: The Only Way is Up – after the disappointment of 2016, it can only get better for Austria.
Sneaky feeling: Portugal got the better of England’s previous golden generation in two major tournament penalty shoot-outs. It might be time for payback.
Alyssa Saliou, Belgium
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: Karim Benzema (France)
Top scorer: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Breakout star: Ryan Gravenberch (Netherlands)
Best young player: Mason Mount (England)
Dark horses: I just can't bring myself to look past France in order to choose one.
Belgium's Garrix anthem: Gold Skies – because Belgium are going for gold in this tournament.
Sneaky feeling: It's been a crazy, unpredictable period, and I have a feeling the final will be the same: one of the favourites vs a complete outsider.
Elvir Islamović, Croatia
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Top scorer: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Breakout star: Dani Olmo (Spain)
Best young player: Phil Foden (England)
Dark horses: Turkey
Croatia's Garrix anthem: Wizard – appropriate for mercurial captain Luka Modrić and the creative magic in Croatia's play.
Sneaky feeling: England and France will meet in the EURO 2020 final.
Ondřej Zlámal, Czech Republic
Winners: England
Player of the tournament: Lorenzo Insigne (Italy)
Top scorer: Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)
Breakout star: Piotr Zieliński (Poland)
Best young player: Mason Mount (England)
Dark horses: Finland
Czech Republic's Garrix anthem: Together
Sneaky feeling: Hungary will not finish fourth in Group F.
Sture Sandø, Denmark
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: N'Golo Kanté (France)
Top scorer: Harry Kane (England)
Breakout star: Alexander Isak (Sweden)
Best young player: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Dark horses: Croatia
Denmark's Martin Garrix anthem: Boomerang – the Henri Delaunay Cup will return to Denmark like a Boomerang!
Sneaky feeling: Finland have qualified for their first major tournament and will be bringing a beautiful away kit and Teemu Pukki with them. They will be what Iceland were to EURO 2016.
Simon Hart, England
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Top scorer: Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)
Breakout star: Jude Bellingham (England)
Best young player: Dani Olmo (Spain)
Dark horses: Denmark
England's Garrix anthem: Lions in the Wild – in other words, kings of the jungle.
Sneaky feeling: Scotland to end their first-round curse (famous last words).
Mikael Erävuori, Finland
Winners: Italy
Player of the tournament: Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium)
Top scorer: Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
Breakout star: Aleksandr Sobolev (Russia)
Best young player: Alexander Isak (Sweden)
Dark horses: Croatia
Finland's Garrix anthem: Now That I've Found You – this is Finland's first ever EURO, after all.
Sneaky feeling: With an unprecedented number of host countries we will see an unprecedented number of surprise results – not necessarily produced by the host countries only, though.
David Crossan, France
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Top scorer: Antoine Griezmann (France)
Breakout star: Ryan Gravenberch (Netherlands)
Best young player: Phil Foden (England)
Dark horses: Poland
France's Garrix anthem: Higher ground – looking down on the rest.
Sneaky feeling: Holders Portugal to go out in the group stage
Phil Röber, Germany
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: Harry Kane (England)
Top scorer: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Breakout star: Ryan Gravenberch (Netherlands)
Best young player: Jules Koundé (France)
Dark horses: Turkey (and North Macedonia who beat Germany in March!)
Germany's Garrix anthem: Now That I've Found You – Müller and Hummels rejoining for a morale boost.
Sneaky feeling: Germany will finish top two in their group, but otherwise this could be a tournament with plenty of upsets.
Andy Clark, Hungary
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: N'Golo Kanté (France)
Top scorer: Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)
Breakout star: Diogo Jota (Portugal)
Best young player: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Dark horses: Ukraine
Hungary's Garrix anthem: Together – only together can we succeed: #csakegyutt
Sneaky feeling: Scotland might just make it through to the knockout stage of a major tournament for the first time in their history.
Paolo Menicucci, Italy
Winners: Belgium
Player of the tournament: Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium)
Top scorer: Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)
Breakout star: Piotr Zieliński (Poland)
Best young player: Phil Foden (England)
Dark horses: Turkey
Italy's Garrix anthem: Spotless – the Azzurri are contenders; you don’t win ten games out of ten in qualifying by chance.
Sneaky feeling: I don't know if Italy will match their recent Eurovision Song Contest victory, but I’m sure that England will do better than the 'nul points' the UK's song got in Rotterdam.
Derek Brookman, Netherlands
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: N'Golo Kanté (France)
Top scorer: Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
Breakout star: Kieran Tierney (Scotland)
Best young player: Pedri (Spain)
Dark horses: Ukraine
The Netherlands' Garrix anthem: Lions in the Wild – this summer's all about the roar of the Dutch lion.
Sneaky feeling: Scotland will win at Wembley but, in true Scottish fashion, fail to qualify for the round of 16.
Igor Panevski, North Macedonia
Winners: England
Player of the tournament: Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium)
Top scorer: Harry Kane (England)
Breakout star: Jadon Sancho
Best young player: Pedri (Spain)
Dark horses: North Macedonia, of course!
North Macedonia's Garrix anthem: Together – team spirit always brings positive results.
Sneaky feeling: Some new stars will shine in European football.
Piotr Koźmiński, Poland
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Top scorer: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Breakout star: Adam Hložek (Czech Republic)
Best young player: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Dark horses: Turkey
Poland’s Garrix anthem: High On Life
Sneaky feeling: France will win every game at the tournament without going to extra time.
Carlos Machado, Portugal
Winners: Portugal
Player of the tournament: N'Golo Kanté (France)
Top scorer: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Breakout star: Diogo Jota (Portugal)
Best young player: Phil Foden (England)
Dark horses: Turkey
Portugal's Garrix anthem: There For You – sums up the pride of being the 11 representing the 11 million!
Sneaky feeling: Whoever wins Group F will win the tournament.
Artur Petrosyan, Russia
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: N'Golo Kanté (France)
Top scorer: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Breakout star: Youri Tielemans (Belgium)
Best young player: Phil Foden (England)
Dark horses: Italy
Russia's Garrix anthem: Home – as in, it's coming home.
Sneaky feeling: We could see a repeat of the UEFA EURO 2016 final – France versus Portugal – in the showpiece again.
Alex O'Henley, Scotland
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Top scorer: Harry Kane (England)
Breakout star: Billy Gilmour (Scotland)
Best young player: Pedri (Spain)
Dark horses: Scotland!
Scotland's Garrix anthem: (Scotland) Forever
Sneaky feeling: Scotland will reach the knockout stages.
Rastislav Hribik, Slovakia
Winners: Belgium
Player of the tournament: Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium)
Top scorer: Kai Havertz (Germany)
Breakout star: Phil Foden (England)
Best young player: Jude Bellingham (England)
Dark horses: Czech Republic
Slovakia's Garrix anthem: The Only Way Is Up!
Sneaky feeling: Nobody really believes that Slovakia will go very far at this tournament, but I can see them advancing from the group at least.
Graham Hunter, Spain
Winners: France/Scotland
Player of the tournament: Karim Benzema (France)
Top scorer: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Breakout star: John McGinn (Scotland)
Best young player: Pedri (Spain)
Dark horses: Turkey
Spain's Garrix anthem: Sun Is Never Going Down – not on Spain's footballing empire, at least.
Sneaky feeling: Scotland will qualify from a tournament group for the first time. Then probably win the whole thing easily.
Sujay Dutt, Sweden
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: Eden Hazard (Belgium)
Top scorer: Karim Benzema (France)
Breakout star: Jack Grealish (England)
Best young player: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Dark horses: Turkey
Sweden's Garrix anthem: Together – Swedish success depends on the collective.
Sneaky feeling: Despite being absent from the Spain squad, Real Madrid players will make their presence felt.
Vieri Capretta, Switzerland
Winners: England
Player of the tournament: Harry Kane (England)
Top scorer: Ciro Immobile (Italy)
Breakout star: Ruslan Malinovskyi (Ukraine)
Best young player: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Dark horses: Switzerland
Switzerland's Garrix anthem: Golden Skies – maybe it’s just a dream, but it’s important to dream.
Sneaky feeling: Remo Freuler will shine and could emerge as one of the star midfielders in the competition.
Görkem Kırgız, Turkey
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: Nicolò Barella (Italy)
Top scorer: Karim Benzema (France)
Breakout star: Pedri (Spain)
Best young player: Ryan Gravenberch (Netherlands)
Dark horses: Turkey
Turkey's Garrix anthem: Torrent – the goals could flow!
Sneaky feeling: Hungary will beat Portugal in the group stage.
Bogdan Buga, Ukraine
Winners: England
Player of the tournament: Raheem Sterling (England)
Top scorer: Harry Kane (England)
Breakout star: Andreas Skov Olsen (Denmark)
Best young player: Phil Foden (England)
Dark horses: Denmark
Ukraine's Garrix anthem: The Only Way Is Up
Sneaky feeling: England will do what they came so close to doing the last time this tournament concluded at Wembley.
Matthew Howarth, Wales
Winners: France
Player of the tournament: N'Golo Kanté (France)
Top scorer: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Breakout star: Ryan Gravenberch (Netherlands)
Best young player: Phil Foden (England)
Dark horses: Turkey
Wales's Garrix anthem: Dreaming… of another march to the semi-finals?
Sneaky feeling: Scotland will reach the knockout stage in their first appearance at a major tournament since 1998.