England and France have failed to excite, while Austria and Georgia have spawned out of nowhere and impressed. A deep dive into the teams, players and moments that have surprised Europe so far in this Euro 2024 competition.
And so, just like that, the group stages have come to their conclusions. Thirteen days of back-to-back games, each and every one with its own excitements, quirks and talking points. With the real fun to come as the knockouts are in sight, here are some of the surprises of Euro 2024 so far…
Austria
Group B was immediately singled out as the group of death, but Austria’s opponents in Poland, France and the Netherlands weren’t far off taking that accolade. Very few had the Austrians qualifying as a third-placed side, let alone topping the group with six points.
Their performances have certainly merited progression too, showing tremendous courage to recover from a tight defeat to France with a convincing win over the Poles and that exciting match with the Dutch, which they edged 2-3.
The France defeat wasn’t a thrashing either, with an unlucky own goal seeing them narrowly fall to defeat, despite having a few clear chances to get onto the scoresheet. Their form has surprised many, but this is a side with just two defeats since September 2022, with ex-Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick rekindling his reputation in emphatic style.
A round of 16 tie with Turkey awaits following their second-placed finish in Group F, and the form and confidence of this Austrian side would suggest a quarterfinal place is well within reach.
Lack of form from the favourites
As mentioned in relation to Austria, France haven’t really gotten going as of yet this summer, with the same being said about fellow favourites England. There was almost a 40% chance of one of them winning the competition pre-tournament, yet this hasn’t seemed to have translated into performances on the pitch.
England is split. Half of the nation against Southgate and his methods; the other half with frustrations but realising the bigger picture. England have got the job done. Yes, not in the most attractive way, but they topped the group and have formed some sort of defensive structure, which was the main dilemma in the absence of Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire.
It’s easy to say the goals will come, but they should, given the number of talented and in-form players at their disposal. These gritty performances fill me with far more confidence than winning 4-2 or 6-3 would. There’s a foundation in place, and the only way is up (surely?!).
Phil Foden’s absence due to the birth of his third child may open the door for Anthony Gordon to start, a player I feel England are crying out for, particularly given that Shaw isn’t there to be bombing down the left side. That and the potential addition of Kobbie Mainoo to the starting midfield, who performed far better in the Slovenia game than Connor Gallagher, whom he replaced.
As for France, they haven’t pulled up any trees either, yet there doesn’t seem to be as much toy throwing from them. Maybe because they’ve been there before in recent international tournaments. But an identical record to England in terms of points has seen them finish 2nd and into the tough side of the bracket.
The stats look in their favour but, on the eye, it seems like there’s something not quite flowing. An own goal and a penalty are the only two methods of scoring so far and their substitutions have made little impact.
However, like England, they have established a solid defensive output, conceding just one goal so far. They could potentially face Spain, Portugal or Germany on their route to the final, should they beat Belgium, but if you were going to back someone to turn it around, it would likely be the French.
Group E
Belgium’s golden generation is certainly over, and don’t we know it?
To be brutally honest, it has largely underperformed, with poor performance when it mattered at the business end of tournaments. However, it was almost expected for them to stroll a group containing Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine.
As you’ll now know, that didn’t happen, as they went through in 2nd place and were greeted with boos from their own supporters after securing qualification with a 0-0 draw against Ukraine last night.
All credit must go to the other three teams, though. Romania shocked everyone with arguably the game and goal of the tournament in their first match, brushing aside Ukraine with a thumping 3-0 victory. Defeat to Belgium only spurred them on, as that draw with Slovakia was enough for them to top the group and set up a tasty tie with The Netherlands next Tuesday.
Slovakia themselves took a huge step to qualifying after shocking Belgium in their first game, their three narrow games securing a spot with four points, while Ukraine unluckily became the first nation not to go through with a four-point total, that drubbing against Romania proving fatal.
Marc Guehi
Doubts were cast after Harry Maguire wasn’t deemed fit enough to make the cut, with the majority of England’s fanbase finally accepting the Manchester United defender as their first choice to partner John Stones.
As Jarrad Branthwaite was overlooked, it seemed Southgate had two options: Guehi or Lewis Dunk. And thank goodness he chose the former.
Guehi has been doing this for Crystal Palace for years now, but little was known as to whether he could step up to international level. He certainly was. Yes, he’s had a couple of moments, taking a yellow card the other night against Slovenia, but that even showed his willingness to own up to his mistakes and take one for the team.
On the whole, he has provided the physicality that Maguire does, whilst also looking confident on the ball, and has always been eager to block or intercept when needed.
Maguire is England’s highest-ever scoring defender, so replicating his attacking threat was always going to be a tall order. However, in every defensive sense, you can’t really tell he’s not there, and Guehi’s extra pace provides a different dimension to the Three Lions’ back line.
Georgia 2-0 Portugal
I was just about to press publish, but then this happened.
74th FIFA-ranked Georgia stunned everybody and grabbed a sensational 2-0 victory over Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, securing them a knockout spot and a tie against Spain in surely the greatest moment in their history.
And they didn't fluke it. Portugal's quality was evident but Georgia more than matched them. Confident and patient in possession, taking their moments to counterattack and incredible defensive resolve: the performance dreams are made of.
Star man Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's second-minute strike set the tone, before Georges Mikautadze confidently scored his third goal in as many games from the spot with a fine strike into the bottom corner, a goal that sees him lead the way in the race for the golden boot
The Georgians only just scraped qualification on penalties to their first ever European Championship and have defied the odds, with OPTA predicting them with just a 37% chance of knockout qualification, the lowest bar Albania.
Roberto Martinez was made to pay for key omissions such as Diogo Jota, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias, but the Portuguese still qualify as group winners.
But last night was all about Georgia. A night that will live on in Euro history for a while and in Georgian history for an eternity.
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