It's finally here! The European Championship 2021 is about to start. Will title holder Portugal take off again with this beautiful prize, or will they be knocked off the throne by one of the favorites? World champion France, former world champion Germany and Belgium are lurking for the coveted title. Or maybe it will be our Orange lions that will surprise us? Let's quickly move on to the pools!
The European Championships
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If we look at European Championship groups , there are at least 2 groups that stand out. Group C with our one and only Orange and group F, the group of death. These are the groups to keep an eye on and to watch the matches. A lot of spectacle is expected here. In order to be able to determine your choice of matches yourself, we have listed all groups for you! |
You might also find this interesting: With our vintage football posters on the wall you can show that you support Orange.
Group A
Group A is the group with Italy, Switzerland, Turkey and Wales. Of course the expectation is that a large football country like Italy will easily become the number 1 in the group, but the opposite could turn out to be the case.
The surprisingly well-playing Swiss
Switzerland is a surprisingly good country when we look at their place in the world ranking. They are no less than 13th place. Nobody expected Switzerland to be so good because it is not such a popular football country. But during qualifying matches they showed time and again what a strong, close-knit team they have. With a defense that is hard to beat, they always manage to score a solid win with scores like 1-0, 2-0, and sometimes 2-1.
The executioner of Orange : Turkey
Then there is also Turkey with striker Burak Yilmaz who really pulverized the Netherlands in the World Cup qualifier with his hat trick. If he also manages to get up to speed during the European Championship, Turkey certainly has a good chance of getting through the group.
Star player Bale with Wales
Wales always manage to achieve surprising results with star player Gareth Bale because he always gives everything for his country. He often plays better with his national team than with his own club as the team is built around him.
They know how to put him in position time and time again and he makes goal after goal. The star player is unfortunately very prone to injury so it is to be hoped for Wales that he manages to stay fit throughout the tournament.
Group B
Group B is the group of our southern neighbors Belgium. The group also consists of Russia and the Scandinavian countries Denmark and Finland. The expectation here is that the Red Devils will whistle through the European Championship group .
The Red Devils
The current number 1 in the world has a world goalkeeper, midfielder and attackers with Thibaut Courtois, Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku. The latter is in top form at his current club Inter and has already scored 57 goals for the Red Devils. He is therefore one of the top candidates to take the top scorer title at the European Championship 2021 .
The outsiders Russia and Finland
As far as Russia and Finland are concerned, not much is to be expected. Although both countries finished 2nd in the European Championship qualifying pool, this was against the less strong football countries. With names like San Marino and Liechtenstein you can weaken the performance of 2nd quite a bit.
Many former Eredivisie at Denmark
Denmark certainly has some nice players in the house with Christian Eriksen, Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg and Kasper Dolberg, but a player like Eriksen has had very few playing minutes at his current club this season. This makes things even more difficult. However, it is hopeful that Denmark did not lose in the European Championship qualification, but drew 4 times. If they know how to turn this into victories, they certainly have a chance to continue.
Group C
Then the one and only group of our Orange lions , group C. We have been placed in the group with Austria, Ukraine and North Macedonia. If we look at the statistics, only Ukraine is really a great danger for the Netherlands.
Ukraine: the danger for Orange
Ukraine finished first in the European Championship qualifiers in a group with current European champions Portugal and Serbia. They won 6 out of 8 games and didn't lose. This country is therefore a serious danger for the Netherlands. North Macedonia, on the other hand, is simply a must win for the Netherlands. Austria must look good if they want to beat our Orange heroes.
Our Orange pride
It is a loss that the Netherlands has to do without the injured Virgil van Dijk and the corona-infected keeper Jasper Cillessen. The two always had a permanent base in the Dutch national team and Virgil van Dijk was also the great captain of the team.
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Despite that, the Netherlands has enough players with Frenkie de Jong, Memphis Depay, Georginio Wijnaldum, Stefan de Vrij and Matthijs de Ligt who play in top competitions. Are you a real fan of the Dutch national team? Then view the poster from '65 here ! |
It is important that the Netherlands manages to become 1st in the group to get a favorable draw in the course of the European Championship 2021 . When the Netherlands becomes first, they have to play against the number 3 from group D, E or F. These are usually the lesser teams.
When our Orange lions become 2nd it will be a lot more difficult. Then the Netherlands will have to compete against the numbers 1 from group A, E or F. There is a good chance that they will draw lots for countries such as Spain, Germany or France. These are the expected numbers 1 from groups A, E and F.
Pool D
Pool D consists of England, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Scotland. The on paper stronger countries England and Croatia managed to become 1st relatively easily in the European Championship qualifiers. The Czech Republic convincingly finished in 2nd place in the same group with England, so the Czech Republic is certainly not yet written off in this group.
The difficult qualification of the Scots
Things are looking a little bleaker for Scotland. The Scots finished 3rd in a group with Belgium and Russia, but nevertheless managed to qualify for the European Championship 2021 . It is therefore expected that the Scots will have to say goodbye to the European Championship 2021 early.
The losing World Cup finalists and great selection of England
Croatia, which reached the last World Cup final by eliminating England, will most likely go through to the knockout phase with that country. The question for England, however, remains whether they will finally be able to reach a final place with the great selection they have every year. They always have the qualities to win, but not the team spirit. So who knows, maybe this is the year of the English.
Group E
Then group E, a group with a fixed number 1 in Spain, but a 2nd place that is up for grabs for a number of countries. For example, Sweden and Poland all have a more or less chance of taking this place.
Solidity ensures Swedish victory
Sweden has been doing very well in final rounds in recent years and often manages to get through the group stage. They don't really have big stars as Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not participate in the Euro 2021 .
But the team as a whole functions very well and goes above and beyond for each other. The Sweden team is the opposite of England in that regard, less quality but very good team spirit.
Polish world striker Robert Lewandowski
Poland is more or less dependent on top striker Robert Lewandowski. The striker who will score more every year managed to score 41 times in the competition in 29 games this season. With this he broke the age-old record of Gerd Müller. No one thought it would ever be broken, but the magical Bayern Munich striker managed to pull it off.
Let alone what he would have set for record if he had played all 34 games. He is the hope of Poland. When he is drafted every defender must fear for this world striker.
Weaker Slovakia
Slovakia is significantly the weaker team in the group. The team managed to qualify for the European Championship 2021 with a narrow 3rd place in the World Cup qualifiers . The team has some nice players here and there, but it is not a top team. In addition, the team does not function well as a whole and the team easily concedes goals. So it will be important for Slovakia to play with restraint and on the counter to get the points. 
Pool F
Pool F, the pool of death, at least that's what you can call it. With the current European Championship winner of 2016 Portugal, current World Cup winner of 2018 France and World Cup winner of 2014 Germany, this group is going to be a real pleasure to watch.
The French super team
France can literally double any position with a world top player. The absurd selection consisting of players such as Kylian Mbappé, N'Golo Kanté and Raphaël Varane means that France certainly has the strongest selection of the tournament on paper.
In addition, trainer Deschamps has chosen to include Karim Benzema in the selection again after years of absence. The Real Madrid top striker will certainly be a good addition to the squad with his experience and goals. But the real question ultimately remains; will world champions France succeed in reigning in Europe as well?
Die Mannschaft
Germany has once again shown what they are capable of in the European Championship qualifiers in the group with the Netherlands. The former world champion generally has an older roster that they are rejuvenating with fast, agile wingers like Leroy Sané and Serge Gnabry. But the old experienced core with Joshua Kimmich, Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos and Thomas Müller will remain. With so much experience and quality, Germany also has a good chance of winning the tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal
Portugal generally has a very young selection with many young talents such as Jao Felix and Ruben Días. But the one and only leader Cristiano Ronaldo will claim the leading role as in any tournament. He has already scored more than 100 times for Portugal and will be happy to add more goals.
In previous tournaments, it was mainly Ronaldo who had to do everything alone because of the lack of footballing talent at Portugal. But with the current golden crop they have, it is expected that they will also go very far in the tournament.
The unlucky person of the European Championship 2021 : Hungary
Hungary is surely the big unlucky person of the European Championship 2021. It usually has to make a lot of effort to qualify for a final tournament and then you also end up in the group of death. Hungary will therefore most likely not succeed in qualifying for the knockout phase. But let's hope they can surprise us and knock out one of the big countries.
Are you also going to watch the European Championship?
Then make sure to sit in front of the tube on the following dates!
- Sunday 13-6 21:00 Netherlands - Ukraine
- Thursday 17-6 21:00 Netherlands - Austria
- Monday 21-6 18:00 Netherlands - North Macedonia
Did you come across a nice football poster in this blog? You can order these here !