Euro 2024 – Group E Preview

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Group E Overview

Group D: Belgium, Romania, Slovakia, Playoff winner B

Group E current FIFA ranking

Belgium aer the big favorite to winGroup E. They have by far the highest ranking and, player by player, they have the best squad. At the time of writing, we find Belgium in fourth place in the FIFA rankings, which is more than 40 places better than Romania, who are the second highest ranked team in the group. Romania are making their sixth appeareance at the European Championship finals. Their last appearance, in 2016, they crashed out in the group stages.

Behind Belgium and Romania we find Slovakia, who are making their third straight finals appearance at the Euros. In 2016, the Slovaks went to the round of 16, and in the last championship in 2020 (played in 2021) they exited in the group stage. The fourth team in group E iwill come from playoff path B where Ukraine, Israel, Bosnia/Herzegovina and Iceland will compate.

Favourite: Belgium

At the time of writing, Belgium are the biggest favourite to win any of the groups according to the bookies. They reached the quarter finals in the last two Euros and look highly likely to make the knockout stages once again. The World Cup in Qatar, which saw a group stage, exit was a huge disappointment and led to boss Roberto Martinez leaving his post after a successful spell in charge.

Martinez was replaced by 38-year-old Domenico Tedesco from Red Bull Leipzig and, to date, things have been going well for the new boss.

In the European Championship qualifiers, the Belgians only dropped points in two matches with a record of 6 wins, 2 draws and 0 losses. They won the group ahead of Austria, Sweden, Azerbaijan and Estonia. As for the squad, it is of the highest class with top-class players such as Kevin de Bruyne, Leandro Trossard and Romelu Lukaku at the forefront. A big blow for the Belgians, however, is that one of the world’s best goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois misses the Euros due to injury.

Romania

Romania made the football world sit up and take notice during the European Championship qualifiers. Nobody could have predicted that the Romanians would win their group, let alone do so without a single defeat. Their record in the group, where they faced Switzerland, Israel, Belarus, Kosovo and Andorra, was six wins, four draws and no defeats. Against Switzerland, who also made it to the finals, Romania drew 2-2 away and won 1-0 at home in Bucharest. Romania have quality within their squad, however, they do not really have a star player. The team are, however, equal, if not greater, than the sum of their parts.

Captain Nicolae Stanciu, currently plying his trade in Saudi Arabia, is still going strong and if you look at the back line, Romania have several promising young defenders who are predicted to have a bright future. In the European Championship qualifiers, it was Andrei Burcă and Radu Drăgușin who gave the team a solid platform in most matches, and manager Edward Iordănescu looks set to choose the duo to start in the finals. Defence has been Romania’s strength. In 10 qualifying matches they conceded only five goals, perhaps this will be the key to success in Germany too.

Slovakia

Runners-up behind the superb Portugal, Slovakia made it to the European Championship finals for the third time in a row. The aim is first and foremost to try to progress from the group stage in Germany. In 2016, they managed to get to the quarter finals, where their progress was halted with a 3-0 loss to Germany. In Euro 2020 things did not go quite as well for the Slovaks. After a win over Poland there were losses against Sweden and Spain. The betting companies do not have much faith in Slovakia, the fact is that they actually have the highest odds of all to progress, including the playoff winners.

Slovakia’s biggest star is team captain and defensive lynchpin Milan Škriniar of PSG. Otherwise, Napoli’s Stanislav Lobotka and Dávid Hancko stand out in Feyenoord. At their best, Slovakia have shown they can challenge the very best teams in Europe, but the question is, can it last beyond a place in the last 16? Extremely doubtful!

Ukraine

Ukraine may have qualified through the playoffs, however, they are strongly fancied to make the knockout stages. Despite being a relatively new football nation they have a good record of making and doing well at major tournaments.

Over the years, the national team has seen stars such as Andriy Shevchenko, an iconic striker and former team captain, and Andriy Yarmolenko, a skilled and versatile forward who have played for big clubs around Europe. Ukraine’s greatest successes in major championships came at the World Cup in 2006 and at Euro 2012 when they made it to the quarter-finals.

In the 2006 World Cup, they came second in the group stage behind Spain and ahead of Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. In the round of 16, Switzerland were defeated on penalties. In the quarter-finals, however, eventual winners, Italy, proved too strong. Six years later at Euro 2012, they advanced as the fourth best third placed team, from a group consisting of Austria, the Netherlands and North Macedonia. In the round of 16, there was a 2-1 victory against Sweden after extra time, and in the subsequent quarter-final, Ukraine were beaten 4-0 by England.

Group E – Table

Latest table for Group E:

Group E Odds

Latest Group E odds from bet365

Schedule and venues

Group E begins with the match Romania against Ukriaine at the Allianz Arena in Munich. Three hours later, it’s kick-off for Belgium – Slovakia in Frankfurt. In total, matches will be played at four different locations in Group E. The other locations are Stuttgart and Cologne.

Summary of Group E

Anything short of a Belgian group win would be a huge shock here. On paper, Belgium are by far the strongest team and in the European Championship qualifiers they showed thisstrength by going through the group undefeated. Second place feels all the more open. Romania and Slovakia look quite evenly matched. And playoff winners Ukraine will be right in the mix to make the last 16. At the time of writing they are second favourites.

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