By: Benjamin He
After weeks of games, the Euro Cup whittled down the final four. And the four countries that will be watching the finals this weekend with bated breath are… Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands. Which of these incredible soccer teams are going to take home the cup? No one will know until the end of the week. But there is one country that every one is watching. Spain became the favorite, with astoundingly sort odds 190 ahead of the semifinals.
Spain rose through the rankings rapidly. Only a week ago, the team managed to defeat Germany, the host of the 2024 Euro Cup, in the semifinals, taking the favorite-to-win spot from England. England has proved a bit of a disappointment. England themselves went head-to-head with Switzerland in the quarterfinals, and while still managing to win, put on a rather dull performance.
Many have been hoping for France to take the cup, but they too have fallen back. Les Bleus, the French national team, have not scored from open play, making it to the semifinals after getting two own goals and converting one penalty. On the flip side, France only let one goal past them, and that was also a penalty. Although the recent game’s history is on France’s side. They’ve made it into the semifinals four out of the five major tournaments.
So far, Spain is ahead on odds with +190, England in second with +250, France next with +270, and the Netherlands last with +445.
The odds being in Spain’s favor makes sense. They’ve been the arguably most impressive team in the tournament so far, with a 4-1 against Germany and winning all three group games. To put that in perspective, Germany is also considered one of the best teams on the field, and they were also the host this time round’. Once Germany was out of the game, and combined with England’s dull performance, Spain was the logical favorite for winning the Euro Cup.