- The European Championships are set to kick-start in under two weeks time
- Ahead of the tournament, Opta’s supercomputer has made some predictions
- Sunday league, grassroots, pub football… how Pep’s influence has trickled down the pyramid – Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
With the European Championships just around the corner, fans are already making their predictions as to who might lift the trophy in Germany.
Gareth Southgate‘s England side – following their 3-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina – will be one of the side’s hoping to make history and win the tournament this summer.
And their confidence will be boosted thanks to the work by stats boffins Opta, who have recently calculated their pre-tournament predictions through a supercomputer.
According to the statistics, England are the favourites to win the competition – with a 19.9 per cent chance of clinching the title this summer.
The Three Lions also have the highest likelihood of reaching the quarter-finals (70 per cent), the semi-finals (48.2 per cent) and the final (31.1 per cent).
Followed closely behind are Didier Deschamps’ France, who have a 19.1 per cent chance of winning the tournament and a 30.4 per cent chance of reaching the final.
While there’s barely anything to England and France, there is a big gap between themselves and the team placed in third on the list.
Hosts Germany have a 12.4 per cent chance of winning the competition – which would make them the fourth host nation in history to do so.
Spain (1964), Italy (1968), and France (1984) all achieved this feat and, now, Julian Nagelsmann’s side will be hoping to do the same.
Rounding off the top five, are Luis de la Fuente’s Spain – who have a 9.6 per cent of winning – and Roberto Martínez’s Portugal – who have a 9.2 per cent chance.
Interestingly, reigning champions Italy – who will be competing in a major competition for the first time since their Euro 2020 success – only have a 5 per cent likelihood of reclaiming their title.
They also have an 11.4 per cent chance of reaching the final, making a repeat of England’s clash with them three years ago rather unlikely.
Elsewhere, Scotland are ranked 15th in the list in terms of most likely to win the competition – with the supercomputer giving them a 1 per cent chance of success.
Steve Clarke’s side – who will come up against Germany, Hungary and Switzerland – have a 23.5 per cent chance of reaching the quarter-finals, 8.5 per cent chance of the semi-finals and 3.1 per cent chance of making the final.
Out of the 24 teams in the competition, Georgia are the least likely to win the tournament – with the supercomputer suggesting they have 0.1 per cent chance of winning.
The penultimate team on the list is Albania, who have a marginally better percentage of 0.2.