Euro 2016 Preview: My 5 Teams Who Could Win The 2016 Euros

Euro 2016 Preview: My 5 Teams Who Could Win The 2016 Euros

Heading into the 2016 European Championship, which will take place between 10th June till 10th July, there will be many fans who are quite optimistic due to the huge development of European talent across a number of countries. England will be one of the nations with high hopes due to the new generation of players, such as Jamie Vardy, Delle Alli and Ross Barkley to name just a few but there are quite a few countries that could potentially win the Euros and in this post, I will be detailing the five countries that could win the 2016 Euros, ranked from fifth to first.


A remainder of the Groups:

Group A: France, Romania, Albania and Switzerland.

Group B: England, Russia, Wales and Slovakia.

Group C: Germany, Ukraine, Poland and Northern Ireland.

Group D: Spain, Czech Republic, Turkey and Croatia.

Group E: Belgium, Italy, Republic of Ireland and Sweden.

Group F: Portugal, Iceland, Austria and Hungary.
 

 

 

5, England

Now this is a more optimistic choice than a deadly serious choice. Ultimately, it seems that England always get their fans hopes up when they get to a tournament and then subsequently fail to put in a good enough performance (see the 2014 World Cup for evidence). However, with the recent influx of fresher and bolder players that are hungry to restore pride into the English Football team's name, such as Kane, Vardy, Drinkwater and Rashford. Even with doubts over the current manager, Roy Hodgson, and his ability to motivate the next wave of English talent, the possibility of England winning a major trophy since 1966 is a thing (even if it's not a massive possibility).

Final Squad:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Fraser Forster (Southampton), Tom Heaton (Burnley).


Defenders: Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Everton), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur), Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool).


Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Ross Barkley (Everton), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).


Strikers: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United).

 

 

Key Player: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur).



4, Belgium

For a while, Belgium were always the team that had a lot of good talent but never really the structure of a really good team, leading to them becoming the Internet's favourite team or 'dark horse' team. However, the names of Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Axel Wistel, as well as many others, have become famous through their fantastic performances, leading to many people realising how many awesome players Belgium have at their disposal. I know that Belgium haven't shown anything that makes them look unbelievable but I seriously think that this is the tournament where they will finally announce themselves to not just Europe but the World. They might not win it necessarily but they don't have to win the tournament for their best players to shine through (possibly even Hazard??...).

Final Squad:


Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool), Jean-Francois Gillet (Mechelen).


Defenders: Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur), Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham Hotspur), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona), Laurent Ciman (Montreal Impact), Jason Denayer (Galatasaray), Thomas Meunier (Club Brugge), Jordan Lukaku (Oostende), Christian Kabasele (Genk).


Midfielders: Marouane Felliani (Manchester United), Axel Wistel (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Mousa Dembele (Tottenham Hotspur), Radja Nainggolan (Roma).


Strikers: Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Romelu Lukaku (Everton), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Christian Benteke (Liverpool), Divock Origi (Liverpool), Yannick Ferreira Carrasco (Atletico Madrid), Michy Batshuayi (Marseille).    

Key Player: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City).



3, Spain

Don't get me wrong Spain are still a good team but their performance in the 2014 World Cup was extremely underwhelming to say the least. For a nation that has amazing coming out of their ears, you would think that they would storm this tournament but it is now common knowledge that the tiki-tika style of Football is not as popular among International teams as it first was when Spain won the 2008 Euros in Austria and Switzerland. International teams now want to have an alternative ready for a difficult opponent, such as the counter-attack that Real Madrid model their play on or the tiki-tackle philosophy that Pep Guardiola implemented during his tenure at Bayern Munich. The defending champions will have a good tournament, better than most expect, but I don't think they'll retain their European Champions status on 10th June.

Final Squad:

 

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Porto), David De Gea (Spain), Sergio Rico (Sevilla).


Defenders: Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Marc Barta (Barcelona), Hector Bellerin (Arsenal), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Juanfran (Atletico Madrid), Mikel San Jose (Athletic Bilbao), Jordi Alba (Barcelona).


Midfielders: Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea), Thiago (Bayern Munich), Bruno Soriano, David Silva (Manchester City).


Forwards: Alvaro Morata (Juventus), Lucas Vazquez (Real Madrid), Pedro (Chelsea), Aritz Aduriz (Athletic Bilbao).


Key Player: Andres Iniesta (Barcelona).



2, Germany

The current World Champions will be looking to add the European Championship to their trophy cabinet for the first time since 1996 and when you look at their squad, they have every chance to do just that. Marco Reus being left out of the squad for the second tournament in a row, on his 27th Birthday as well, has left a bitter taste about the announcement of the German squad but they will have a good tournament never-the-less.

 

Final Squad:

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona).


Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Emre Can (Liverpool), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Benedikt Hoewedes (Schalke 04), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Antonio Ruediger (Roma).


Midfielders: Julian Draxler (VfL Wolfsburg), Sami Khedira (Juventus), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray), Andre Schurrle (VfL Wolfsburg), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United), Julian Weigl (Borussia Dortmund).


Forwards: Mario Gomez (Besiktas), Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Schalke 04).


Key Player: Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich).
 

 

1, France
If I was a betting man, I would bet on France to win the Euros. 100 percent. It's not just because they're the host nation and will be riding through on a wave of pride and nationalism, due to the Paris terrorist attacks on 13th November 2015. It's because they have the best squad heading into the tournament and have some of the best young players at their disposal, such as Kingsley Coman, Paul Pogba and everyone's favourite box-to-box midfielder, N'Golo Kante. I think the final will either be France vs Germany or France vs Spain and France will become three-time European champions and re-establish themselves on the World stage.


Final Squad:

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Marsellie), Benoit Costil (Rennes).

Defenders: Christophe Jallet (Lyon), Patrice Evra (Juventus), Adil Rami (Sevilla), Eliaquim Mangala (Manchester City), Lucas Digne (Roma), Bacary Sagna (Manchester City), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Samuel Umtiti (Lyon).


Midfielders: N'Golo Kante (Leicester City), Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace), Dimitri Payet (West Ham), Morgan Schneiderlin (Manchester United), Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle United), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich).


Forwards: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Tigres UANL), Anthony Martial (Manchester United).


Key Player: Paul Pogba (Juventus).