Belgium
Belgium are the biggest pretender in international football, a status sealed when they topped the FIFA World Ranking for the first time in November 2015 – the only national team in the world to do so without having won a World Cup or a continental trophy.
Related Post
The Red Devils have been blessed with several golden generations of players but have only managed to finish in third place as hosts at UEFA Euro 1972, as runners-up at UEFA Euro 1980, in fourth place in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and third at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Their latest golden generation is fading out with Eden Hazard retired, and Jan Vertonghen, Kevin De Bruyne, and Romelu Lukaku all on the wrong side of 30.
The latter three have been joined by excellent talents in Charles De Ketelaere, Jérémy Doku, and Loïs Openda as manager Domenico Tedesco look to inspire Belgium to glory at Euro 2024.
They have been drawn in a relatively easy group and they should have little trouble making it out of Group E unscathed.
Slovakia
Since earning recognition as Slovakia in the early 1990s, the Slovakian national team has qualified for four major international tournaments, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2016, UEFA Euro 2020, and Euro 2024.
The Falcons made it past the group stages at their debut outing in France 2016 but could not navigate past troubled first-round waters four years later.
Slovakia arrived in Germany knowing they can not boast the calibre of talents paraded by the likes of Germany, France, England, and the Netherlands,.
However with the coaching nous of Italian manager Francesco Calzona and inspiration from captain Milan Škriniar of PSG and Napoli’s Stanislav Lobotka, Slovakia will believe they can pull off one or two upsets.
Romania
It is great to have Romania back at the European Championship after they missed out on the 2020 finals.
Despite blessing the football world with two of the most enigmatic footballers ever in Gheorghe Hagi and Adrian Mutu, Romania have never truly pulled any weight in international football.
One of only four European nations to participate at the inaugural edition of the World Cup in 1930, Romania have never been beyond the Round of 16 at the Mundial and have made it past the group stage at the Euros once in five previous attempts.
They are full of hopes, though, as they arrive in Germany having won their qualifying group with an unbeaten record ahead of Switzerland, Israel, and Belarus.
The Tricolours have no world-class player in their squad but head coach Edward Iordănescu will look to captain Nicolae Stanciu to help inspire players drawn mostly from Spain, England, and the lower division in Italy, to a positive outing at Euro 2024.
Ukraine
Ukraine had a memorable time at Euro 2020 as they reach the quarterfinals – their best result in the championship.
The Blue and Yellow made it out of the group stage as one of the three best third-placed teams only to stun Group E winners Sweden 2-1 after extra time.
Luck ran out on them in the quarterfinals where England made light work of the affair with a 4-0 victory but Ukraine have returned looking even better.
Manager Serhiy Rebrov’s side is not lacking in talent with Chelsea’s Mykhaylo Mudryk, Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Girona’s Artem Dovbyk all capable of creating magic from nothing.
Real Madrid goalkeeper is one to watch while the experienced Andriy Yarmolenko will captain the team in what should be his final Euro appearance.
Their group is not looking menacing at all and one win could be enough to secure passage to the next round, something they have the quality to make happen.
Likely Group E winners: Belgium, Ukraine
Likely third-place qualifier: Romania
Soccernet.football
