RANKING THE 8 REMAINING TEAMS AT EURO 2024

One of the major surprise packages of the tournament. Turkey were beaten 6-1 by Austria as recently as last March, yet they came good when it mattered against Ralf Rangnick’s men on Tuesday evening.

Of the eight remaining teams, they probably have the weakest collection of players and they weren’t exactly convincing in the group stages, losing 3-0 to Portugal and needing a last-gasp goal to beat the Czech Republic.

Before this tournament, Turkey had not made it beyond the group stages at the Euros since 2008, when they went on another improbable run to the semi-finals.

Amazingly, they have also not qualified for the World Cup since finishing third in 2002 and their only previous appearance at the tournament was 1954, when they failed to escape the group stages.

So really, they are in dreamland simply by getting this far. A quarter-final against the Netherlands feels like the ceiling for Vincenzo Montella’s men, but they will believe they can defy the odds once more.

7. Switzerland

It might be a little harsh to put them so low on this list, given that the Swiss have been among the most impressive sides to watch at this tournament.

In the round of 16, they were underdogs yet were well worth a 2-0 victory over one of the worst Italian sides in living memory.

Against an England team that has played well below the level expected of them, Murat Yakin’s side will fancy their chances this Saturday.

The Three Lions’ main issues at this tournament have been in midfield, which is arguably where the Swiss are strongest — Nottingham Forest’s Remo Freuler and ex-Arsenal man Granit Xhaka were outstanding in the victory over the Azzurri.

Yet question marks remain. They have never gone further than the quarter-finals at the Euros. Moreover, the Swiss had a similarly promising start at the 2022 World Cup, but capitulated in the round-of-16 stage, suffering a 6-1 thrashing against Portugal.

Can they hold their nerve and deliver on heady expectations this time?

6. Portugal

The Portuguese would have been higher on this list pre-tournament, but some unconvincing displays have not inspired confidence and they face an unenviable last-8 tie with France.

You could play down the significance of the 2-0 loss to Georgia in the group stages — Roberto Martinez made eight changes to his already-qualified side.

Of greater concern will have been the round-of-16 clash with Slovenia.

Portugal were fortunate to progress on penalties — Benjamin Šeško missed a gilt-edged chance with the game scoreless in the dying stages.

Moreover, Cristiano Ronaldo is a problem. 

The gameplan revolves around the 39-year-old to an excessive degree, with Martinez seemingly afraid to drop him despite sub-par performances.

Ronaldo is still capable of moments of magic — as John O’Shea and Ireland can attest — but he was a liability at times against the Slovaks with his wild, ineffectual free kicks and inability to offer enough in the build-up.

It’s consequently hard to see a better side like France not exposing this weakness in the way lesser teams have failed to do.

5. Netherlands

Another side that have been patchy.

The group stages were decidedly unconvincing. The Dutch needed a late Wout Weghorst goal to beat Poland, drew 0-0 with France in one of the worst games of the tournament that neither side seemed particularly bothered about winning and then lost 3-2 to Austria having already secured qualification.

The 3-0 round-of-16 victory was their standout performance, but it came against an ordinary Romania side that had the good fortune to be drawn into one of the weakest groups.

Therefore, it is difficult to know the true ceiling of this Netherlands team.

They have a superb defence with Virgil van Dijk, Denzel Dumfries, Stefan de Vrij and Nathan Ake.

By contrast, their attack has not always functioned so well. But there was a vibrancy in how young players like Donyell Malen, Cody Gakpo and Xavi Simons looked against the Romanians that bodes well for the future.

With Turkey to come in the quarters, and a potential semi with either England or Switzerland, a spot in the final and a chance to emulate the heroes of 1988 seems far from inconceivable.

4. England

Without question, the most unpredictable side of these Euros.

You would not write off their chances of triumphing, but it’s just as easy to envisage Gareth Southgate’s men crashing out against Switzerland in the quarters.

Their displays against Serbia, Denmark, Slovenia and Slovakia have all been poor when you consider the talent in the squad.

The biggest dilemma is Jude Bellingham — the team looks out of sorts with him rather than Phil Foden in the number 10 role and the tired-looking Real Madrid star has struggled to have any influence for long stretches of games.

And yet dropping the 21-year-old seems unthinkable as he has come up with their two most important moments at the tournament so far — the winner against Serbia and the brilliant last-gasp equaliser versus Slovakia.

So England have not looked like a team, or at least not one with a coherent game plan capable of inspiring fluid attacking football.

But there are so many players in the squad capable of producing match-winning moments out of nothing that they may go far regardless.

There have, after all, been several examples of countries winning major tournaments without being especially consistent or playing great football.

3. France

Many people’s favourites before the tournament started.

France have been disappointing to watch but that seems nearly par for the course with Didier Deschamps’ team at this stage.

There were similar complaints about their unattractive style at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, yet they won the former and were a penalty shootout away from triumphing in the latter.

The group stages were especially uninspiring — they got through by scoring twice, a penalty and an own goal, with their sole victory seeing them edge Austria 1-0.

One own goal also saw them overcome Belgium by the same scoreline.

The approach to that round-of-16 game was conservative even by Deschamps’ standards — they started with three defensive midfielders: N’Golo Kante, Adrien Rabiot and Aurélien Tchouaméni — while the more creative footballer Antoine Griezmann was shunted out wide.

Yet their squad more than any other at the Euros knows what it takes to go deep in major tournaments, which is why they should be considered to have a strong chance despite appearances to the contrary.

 2. Germany

Germany have been one of the best sides to watch at this tournament.

They arguably don’t possess the same depth of talent as England or France, but they function better as a team.

In Julian Nagelsmann, they have arguably the competition’s outstanding coach and their squad has a nice blend of experience (Ilkay Gundogan, Toni Kroos) and youth (Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz).

If they can get by Spain in the quarters, the hosts will surely start to believe they can go all the way in a manner that seemed impossible when Nagelsmann took over a team in disarray less than a year ago.

1. Spain

The best side to watch at this Euros by some distance.

With Pedri, Rodri and Fabián Ruiz few people would disagree that they have the strongest midfield at the tournament.

On the wings, Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams provide them the cutting edge in the final third they so patently lacked at previous tournaments.

And while Alvaro Morata may not be the best striker in the competition, with 36 goals in 77 internationals, he is perhaps the most underrated.

There have been occasional signs of defensive vulnerability on the counter-attack, most notably against Georgia, where Willy Sagnol’s side took a shock lead and briefly threatened to cause a major upset.

Overall though, Spain look like the most complete team at the tournament and are the only country to have retained a 100% record since its onset.

Their customary death-by-possession tactics have been sacrificed to a degree, but Luis de la Fuente’s more direct style is consistently paying dividends.

Upcoming quarter-final fixtures

Friday 5 July

Spain v Germany (5pm)

Portugal v France (8pm)

Saturday 6 July

England v Switzerland (5pm)

Netherlands v Turkey (8pm)

2024-07-02T23:41:57Z dg43tfdfdgfd