Sunday, July 14, is the date for destiny at EURO 2024: that’s when the final will be played at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
Germany’s players are hoping they will make it to the final in front of their own supporters, and according to the implied probability of the betting odds, they are expected to make it – albeit with an old rival expected to meet them there.
Final Countdown
A quirk of the draw means that England and France will meet in the semi-finals – assuming they top their respective groups and win their knockout stage games.
They cannot play each other in the final, barring an unlikely occurrence, and so the EURO 2024 odds pitting Germany against England on July 14 continue to attract support from the betting community.
Those England EURO 2024 odds give Gareth Southgate’s men a 7/2 chance to lift the trophy – a slight drift out from the 3/1 they were priced at before the tournament, which is likely down to the rather unimpressive performance they put in against Serbia in their opener.
Job done. 💼#ThreeLions | @chase_uk pic.twitter.com/myBM4ENJmP
— England (@England) June 17, 2024
Germany vs France is another potential final being backed, while in the top-half of the draw there’s a chance that a strong Portugal side – featuring the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva, and Bruno Fernandes – could yet outperform the Germans and book their place in the show-piece occasion in Berlin.
The beauty of these major tournaments, from a fan’s perspective, is that they are so unpredictable – who would have expected Morocco and, to a lesser extent, Croatia reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2022?
But, all things considered, the heavyweights of the EURO 2024 continue to be well-backed based on their showings in the early games of the tournament.
Major Pedigree
England, of course, have recency on their side when it comes to European Championship finals.
They reached the conclusion of the rescheduled 2020 tournament, where Italy stood in their way. Many players that featured on that fateful night at Wembley Stadium are still present in Gareth Southgate’s squad – and they would love to go one better in Berlin this July.
France, of course, reached the World Cup final in Qatar in 2022 – despite the heroics of hat-trick hero Kylian Mbappé, they were downed on penalties by a high-class Argentina side.
Story of the #FIFAWorldCup final in 🔟 images – a thread 🧵
🇦🇷 1 – 0 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/7eZFv5jNzd
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 19, 2022
That heartbreak should only serve to add extra motivation for the two teams, and their expertise in knockout phase games will surely stand them in good stead at the EUROs.
Amongst the teams that will likely make up the top-half of the draw, there’s much more scarcity when it comes to major final pedigree.
Germany were once a powerhouse of international football, winning four World Cups and three editions of the European Championships. However, they haven’t reached a major international final since 2014, and haven’t won this tournament since 1996.
So there’s an interesting contrast at play here: German football fans expect success, but their current crop of players don’t have any history of delivering upon those expectations. Could that yet prove to be a factor?
Portugal won EURO 2016 and reached the final in 2004, so they have an excellent record in this tournament – could they still upset the German party and book a final spot against France or England?
