What Makes Portugal Favourites To Win 2024 Euros: The UEFA Euros 2024 are well underway as 24 teams battle for supremacy on the European stage. But despite so many teams competing in the tournament, only the top few are the favorites to win it all.
If we look at the team favorites to win this one, Germany is certainly one. Die Mannschaft, as the hosts of the tournament, will be looking to win their first trophy in a decade. France goes into this one as the bookies’ favourite, as this team has made it to the final of the last two FIFA World Cups, winning it all in 2018.
On the basis of the sheer talent in the team, Portugal are also massive favourites to win this one. And when we talk about dark horse picks in this tournament, sides like the Netherlands, Spain, and defending champion Italy come to mind.
But there is another team that can be classified as one of the favourites to win it all. A team that won this very competition a couple of editions ago and has a roster full of talented players, with arguably the greatest player of all time in their side, Portugal.
But what makes Portugal one of the favourites to win the UEFA Euro 2024? What makes their fans excited about this team’s chances in this tournament, and why are critics backing this team to do well? Let’s have a look.
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What Makes Portugal Favourites To Win 2024 Euros
This team has a lot of good things going on for them; let’s start with their fine form. In the qualifying round for the 2024 Euros, Portugal was put in a six-team Group J. While they might have had some easy competition in that group against the likes of Slovakia, Luxembourg, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Liechtenstein, Portugal dominated their group like no other team in the tournament.
Out of the 10 matches played in the qualifying round, the Iberian nation won all 10, scoring 36 goals in those 10 matches and conceding only 2 for an insane goal difference of +34. Portugal was also the only team out of the 53 sides competing in qualifying to finish their campaign with a perfect record.
So, despite losing a friendly game against Croatia a week before the Euros, Portugal comes into this tournament in excellent form.
But what is the form of a team without talented players? And this is a department where this team excels. The Portuguese have assembled one of the best national squads not only in this tournament but in the world. This team has some of the best midfielders and attackers in the 2024 Euros.
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Talking about their excellent midfield, they have the likes of Joao Neves and Vitinha, who have impressed on the Europan stage this season. Joao Palhinha has been one of the best midfielders in Portugal, playing for Fulham. Ruben Neves might have moved to Al-Hilal, but he is still a world-class player, as shown by his performances in Saudi Arabia.
All these players will support Bruno Fernandes, who is in contention for being the best attacking midfielder in the world at Manchester United.
While they might have a solid defense and an excellent midfield, it is the attacking unit that has the most wealth of talent.
Let’s start with AC Milan’s Rafael Leao, who has been one of the best and most exciting left-wing attackers in the world over the past couple of seasons. There is also Joao Felix, who, despite a middling season at Barcelona, is one of the finest young attacking wingers in the world.
The likes of Diogo Jota and Pedro Neto have been doing great for club and country for a couple of seasons now, and so has PSG’s Goncalo Ramos.
But all these names are in the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo. Arguably the greatest modern footballer and the best attacker of all time, At the age of 39 and playing his club football in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo should not have been able to hang with the best players in Europe, but qualifying for EURA Euro 2024 showed how he has still got it.
CR7 scored 10 goals in the European Qualifiers, second in the highest goal-scorer tally behind Romelu Lukaku. He was also the second-highest goal scorer in the world in the 2023–24 season, scoring 35 goals in 31 games for Al-Nassr, just one goal behind Harry Kane’s 36 for Bayern Munich.
But due to his 11 assists throughout the season, Cristiano had the most goal contributions in the world with 46.
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But all the talent in the world might only be enough if guided well. A fine manager is as important as great, talented players to win a championship such as the Euros. And this might be the most controversial part of Portugal’s unit going into the Euros.
In January 2023, Roberto Martinez was named the Portugal national team manager. His previous job was managing Belguim’s ‘Golden Generation’ from 2016 to 2022. His history of managing talented European teams is a point of contention among fans. Under Martinez, Belgium did well in several international tournaments but failed to win any of them despite possessing some of the best players in the world.
While some people praise Roberto Martinez for his man-management, others deride him for playing it ‘safe’.
But he seems like a different manager with Portugal. Not afraid to try and adapt to different playstyles, Martinez even put an ageing Ronaldo at the top of his attack when deemed fit to do so. The Spaniard also has a lot to prove in this tournament. After being handed a talented side for so many years, he wants to win an international trophy.
With everything in their favour, can Portugal pull off yet another Euro win in 2024? Their last win in 2016 came with a far-inferior side and was somewhat of a Cinderella run. With a much higher-quality squad, can they finally dominate this tournament on their way to winning it all?
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Portugal Matches 2024 Euros
Portugal is in Group F of the 2024 Euros and will play their opening game of Euros 2024 against the Czech Republic on Wednesday, June 19, at 12:30 AM (IST) in Leipzig’s Red Bull Arena.
Their second game in the group will be the most challenging one against Turkiye, to be played on Saturday, June 22, at 9:30 PM (IST) in Signal Iduna Park (aka Westfalenstadion) in Dortmund. As for their final game, it will be against Georgia, which will be played on Thursday, June 27, at 12:30 AM (IST) in the Veltins-Arena (aka AufSchalke) in Gelsenkirchen.
Portugal Squad 2024 Euros
Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa, Rui Patricio, Jose Sa
Defenders: Ruben Dias, Ruben Dias, Pepe, Diogo Dalot, Nuno Mendes, Goncalo Inacio, Nelson Semedo, Antonio Silva
Midfielders: Bruno Fernandes, Ruben Neves, Joao Palhinha, Vitinha, Joao Neves, Otavio, Danilo Pereira
Attackers: Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Leao, Francisco Conceicao, Joao Felix, Diogo Jota, Pedro Neto, Goncalo Ramos
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