With the 2024 UEFA European Championship officially over now, it’s time for me to look back at the Predictions I made before the Tournament began! For those who are new to this series, I usually just take the mick out of myself for being super bad at predicting, but I’m a little more confident this time around so let’s take a look and see how I got on!
Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland
In Group A; I predicted Germany to win the Group with 7 points, Scotland to finish second with 4, Switzerland to get through with 3 draws, and then Hungary to finish bottom with just 1 point. Now, I got Germany spot on, but the rest not so much as Switzerland finished second with 5 points, Hungary finished third with 3, and Scotland were bottom with just the 1 point. I guess this isn’t terrible, but I clearly had way too much faith in Scotland because they weren’t very good at all!
Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania
In Group B; I predicted Spain to top the group with 7 points, Croatia to finish second with 6, Italy to just about get through with 3 points whilst I had Albania to finish bottom with just a single point. Now, Spain did win their group, but they won all their games whilst Croatia were a lot worse as they finished third with just the 2 points (great work there)! Italy did slightly better as they finished second with 4 points, but on a positive note, I did get Albania spot on!
Group C: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England
In Group C; I predicted England to win the group with 7 points, Denmark to finish second with 5, Serbia to finish third with just 2 points whilst I had Slovenia to finish bottom with 1 point to their name. Now, England topped their group, but only with 5 points whilst Denmark finished second with just the 3. Serbia did get 2 points, but they actually finished bottom of Group C whilst Slovenia did much better and finished third with 3 draws! Yeah, I got the points completely wrong in this one!
Group D: Poland, Netherlands, Austria, France
In Group D; I predicted the Netherlands to win the group with 7 points, France to finish second with 5, Austria to finish third with 4 whilst I predicted Poland to finish bottom after losing all three of their matches. Now, the Netherlands weren’t close to topping the group as they finished third with 4 points to their name whilst France did finish second with 5 points so I at least got that right! Austria were the team that topped the group with a pretty good 6 points whilst Poland picked up 1 point more than what I was expecting. I definitely overrated the Dutch slightly in this group, but I’m happy with my France call!
Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine
In Group E; I had Belgium to top the group with 7 points, Ukraine to finish second with the same total, Slovakia to finish third with 3 points, and Romania to finish bottom without a single point to their name! Now, Belgium finished second with 4 points, Ukraine finished bottom with 4 points, Slovakia did finish third (but also with 4 points) whilst Romania topped the group with 4 points! Well firstly, my apologies to Romania because they did a heck of a lot better than I expected, and secondly, at least I was right in the sense that Belgium and Ukraine would finish on the same total!
Group F: Turkiye, Georgia, Portugal, Czechia
And in Group F; I had Portugal to top the group with all 9 points, Turkiye to finish second with 4 points, Czechia to finish third with 3, and Georgia to finish bottom with just the 1 point. Now, Portugal did top the group, but “only” with 6 points, Turkiye did finish second, but with 6 points whilst Czechia finished bottom with just a single point and Georgia finished third with 4! These aren’t horrendous predictions, but I was definitely wrong about Georgia!
Last 16:
Scotland 1-2 Croatia – So firstly, the actual game that took place here was Switzerland-Italy. And secondly, neither of these teams qualified for the Last 16 so this is a great start!
Germany 2-0 Denmark – Amazingly, this actually happened! Germany did beat Denmark 2-0 at the Signal Iduna Park, and yeah, I’m delighted with this one!
England 3-1 Czechia – This was actually England VS Slovakia, and it saw England win 2-1 so this isn’t really a good or bad Prediction if we’re being honest!
Spain 1-1 Austria (P) – Oh gosh! Well, the actual game that took place here was Spain-Georgia, and Spain won 4-1 so they definitely didn’t get knocked out in the Round of 16 stage! And also, on the subject of Austria, they lost in this round so this is a pretty bad one!
France 3-0 Ukraine – The actual game that took place here saw France win 1-0 over Belgium, so I at least got France winning correctly, but Ukraine didn’t make it this far so it’s not the best one I’ve done (it’s also not the worst)!
Portugal 2-1 Italy – Well, Portugal played Slovenia in this round, and they won (on penalties)! Italy also featured and lost in the Last 16, so there are positives to take from this Prediction, even if it’s not fully accurate.
Belgium 3-2 Switzerland – This is bad! Firstly, the game that took place here was Romania-Netherlands so I’m nowhere near it! Secondly, Belgium lost in the Last 16 stage and Switzerland won, so this is just fantastic (not)!
Netherlands 3-1 Turkiye – So the final game of the Last 16 stage was actually Austria-Turkiye, and it finished 2-1 to Turkiye. So, whilst I was right to have Turkiye here and the Netherlands did progress to the Last 8 in their game (which wasn’t this one), I still got Turkiye losing and the actual game wrong!
Quarter-Finals:
Austria 2-1 Germany – Yep, I was very much on the Austrian hype train heading into this European Championship, and it was actually looking pretty good until the Knockout Rounds started. The game that actually took place here was Spain-Germany, and it actually finished 2-1 to Spain. So, on the one hand, I got Germany right (again), but I think I have to apologise to my German readers (of which there are quite a few) because I’ve singlehandedly caused all of their results this Tournament!
Portugal 2-3 France – Well, this game actually happened, and France won! However, the game itself wasn’t nearly as exciting as it finished 0-0 with France getting through on penalties. Still, I’m pretty pleased with this one!
England 2-1 Croatia – Okay, so England did appear here and they managed to get through. However, they actually took on Switzerland and got through on penalties whilst Croatia didn’t even make it past the Group Stage so I really overestimated their ability!
Belgium 0-1 Netherlands – This is a weird Prediction as the game that actually took place here was Netherlands-Turkiye, and it finished 2-1 to The Dutch. So on the one hand, I was right with them! On the other hand, though, I actually had the Netherlands getting through on the other side (I.e. being the away team for this game) whilst Belgium obviously lost in the Last 16 (ironically it was 1-0)!
Semi-Finals:
Austria 1-3 France – Well the game that actually took place here was Spain-France, and it finished 2-1 to Spain. I definitely went a little too far with my Austrian hype, and whilst I was right with France getting this far, I also had them to go a step too far too!
Netherlands 2-1 England – Gosh darn it! Amazingly, this game did happen which I think is quite impressive! Unfortunately, the result went the other way as England beat the Netherlands 2-1, so this was very much a “So close, yet so far” Prediction!
UEFA Euro 2024 Final: France 2-1 Netherlands
On another day, this Final could’ve happened given both sides got to the Semi-Finals. However, it didn’t happen, and the actual Final was between Spain and England. Now, I’m not going to talk to much about England as they only went one game further than I anticipated, but I do need to mention the fact that I had Spain to lose in the Last 16 stage when they actually went on and won the whole thing! Oh, and they also won all 7 of their games, so I definitely got them pretty wrong!
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