- The Euro 2020 soccer tournament is down to the final eight teams.
- England is now favored to win the tournament championship.
- Spain, Italy and Belgium are the other teams priced at single digits.
After a dramatic opening to the Euro 2020 knockout rounds the complexion of the tournament has changed dramatically. The next round will begin on Friday, July 2 with the final eight teams looking to book a spot in the semifinals and England has emerged as the clear favorite to take the crown. After their historic 2-0 win over Germany on Tuesday the ‘Three Lions’ are priced at +200 to win the Euro 2020. They still have some tough challengers in the field–notably Spain, Italy and Belgium–but with the prospect of playing the semifinals and finals in front of their home fans at Wembley Arena they’ve got the inside track.
England’s biggest issue entering the knockout rounds was scoring. Despite winning Group D with a 2-1-0 record they managed only two goals during the first three games. This not only led to criticism that manager Gareth Southgate was being too cautious on the attack but concern that what looked to be an offensively potent England side was in a slump at the worst possible time. All of this was tempered by the fact that England had look very strong defensively and to this point are the only team not to concede a goal. Since the Germany win the team and their supporters are showing much more confidence to the point that defender Harry McGuire has cautioned of the importance of remaining focused on the task ahead.
Aside from the England victory, the big storyline from the Round of 16 was several upsets with the most significant being France’s meltdown loss to Switzerland. France trailed 1-0 at halftime before taking control of the game in the second half on a pair of goals by Karim Benzema and a single goal by Paul Pogba. Leading 3-1 in the 75th minute, the outcome of the game appeared to be a foregone conclusion. Unfortunately for France, they played as if the game had already been won and Switzerland took advantage. Harris Seferovic headed home his second goal of the game in the 80th minute before Mario Gavranovic tied the contest seconds into stoppage time. The game would go to where Switzerland would prevail 5-4 following a missed attempt by France’s Kylian Mbappe.
Elsewhere in the final 16 Denmark dispatched Wales 4-0, Italy beat a determined Austria side 2-1 in AET, the Czech Republic beat The Netherlands 2-0 and Ukraine topped Sweden 2-1 in a pair of upsets. Spain had more trouble than anticipated with Croatia but ultimately prevailed 5-3. These results set up the semifinals which begin on Friday, July 2. Swizerland will play Spain in St. Petersburg starting at 6 PM CET/12 noon EDT/9 AM PDT. After that, Belgium will take on Italy in Munich at 9 PM CET/3 PM EDT/12 noon PDT. On Saturday, the Czech Republic will take on Denmark in a somewhat bizarre venue–Baku, Azerbaijan–with kickoff set for 6 PM CET/12 noon EDT/9 AM PDT. England has a much more reasonable trip to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome to play Ukraine at 9 PM CET/3 PM EDT/12 noon PDT.
Here are the updated odds to win the Euro 2020 from BetOnline.ag:
ODDS TO WIN EURO 2020
England +200 Spain +310 Italy +375 Belgium +650 Denmark +1100 Switzerland +2500 Czech Republic +2800 Ukraine +4000
BetOnline.ag is also offering odds to reach the finals:
ODDS TO REACH FINALS EURO 2020
England -150 Spain +150 Italy +180 Belgium +275 Denmark +275 Czech Republic +600 Switzerland +900 Ukraine +900
The semifinals and finals will take place at Wembley Stadium in London. Semifinal game 1 will match the winners of Switzerland/Spain and Italy/Belgium on Tuesday, July 6 at 9 PM CET/3 PM EDT/12 noon PDT. Semifinal game 2 will be on Wedesday, July 7 at 9 PM CET/3 PM EDT/12 noon PDT with the winner of Denmark/Czech Republic facing the winner of England/Ukraine. The final will take place on Sunday, July 11 at 9 PM CET/3 PM EDT/12 noon PDT. All games will be shown on ESPN in the United States.
