The UEFA Euro Cup is the second most important tournament in football right after the World Cup, mainly for the attention it gets from Europe fans and worldwide. In the world of FIFA the Copa America, African Cup and similar continental tournaments, are brothers the Euro Cup, but all of the mentioned dwarf in the shadow of the Euro Cup.
Euro Cup Betting is also a big deal between online gamblers and this article pretends to advice to some extent on how to bet on the UEFA Euro Cup 2016 with a certain degree of success.
But first some basic info about the 2016 tournament, or you can skip right to the betting advice section.
Euro Cup 2016 Groups
6 groups and 24 national teams will play in the Euro Cup 2016. In previous editions it used to be only 20 teams but as Europe is a big continent more and more national teams desire to participate in the event.
*The group stages draw will take place December 12 of 2015.
Qualifying Teams
France as the host will take position of group A and will not be involved in the draw.
Pot 1: Spain (title holders), Germany, England, Portugal and Belgium
Pot 2: Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Ukraine
Pot 3: Czech Republic, Sweden, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary
Pot 4: Turkey, Republic of Ireland*, Iceland, Wales, Albania, Northern Ireland
How Does the Euro Cup Qualifying Process Work?
Different from the Copa America, not all of the 53 national teams from Europe can play in the tournament. A qualification process is held right in between the end of the World Cup and the Euro Cup year.
9 groups are created with 5 or 6 teams per group selected by a draw. Head leaders of each group are selected based on their FIFA rank or after being World Cup or the previous Euro Cup winners.
The 9 group winners, the 9 best runner-ups and the best third all qualify to the tournament directly. 4 remaining spots are battled between the rest of the best thirds on a playoffs round.
Where is the Euro Cup 2016
The Euro Cup 2016 will be played in France, after this edition however FIFA plans to continue playing the tournament in different cities around Europe and not in a specific country.
Euro Cup Group Stages
After the group selections national teams face each other once. There are 6 groups with the first group holding 5 teams and the rest 6 teams. In group one will be the host country.
Which Teams Advance to the Elimination Round?
The winners of each group, the runner-ups and 4 best thirds advance into the knockout stage with a total of 16 teams.
Euro Cup 2012 Winner
Spain is the present champion of the Euro Cup 2012. They also won the 2008 edition and the World Cup in between those tournaments.
Favorite to Win Euro Cup 2016
Spain is the present champion after winning its first Euro Cup in 2008 by beating Italy 4 – 0 in Kiev, and then winning the World Cup in 2010. However, after its horrible exit in the early stages of the World Cup 2014, won by Germany, the Germans became the new superpower and present favorites to win the UEFA Euro Cup 2016 with host France close behind, especially after winning a friendly against Germany 6 months prior to the tournament.
Euro Cup Tickets
Euro Cup tickets are highly coveted by fans and FIFA has come-up with a very special way to award the right of purchase following an online draw. Interested fans must register online to participate in the draw of a limited amount of tickets, those who win the draw have the chance to purchase Euro Cup tickets at the official price online and can claim their tickets at the stadium entrance.
Those who do not participate in the draw can still buy tickets online on the secondary market or on the host cities. But the difficulty of buying one will most certainly inflate the ticket prices. This is why we recommend buying tickets online or participating in the FIFA ticket draw.
Euro Cup Champions
9 national teams have won the Euro Cup with Germany and Spain currently tied with 3 titles each.
Euro Cups Won:
Germany – 3
Spain – 3
France – 2
Soviet Union – 1
Italy – 1
Czechoslovakia – 1
Netherlands – 1
Denmark – 1
Greece – 1
France Betting
The French national team has quickly become a favorite and not precisrly for being the tournament host. Historically, if the host is one of Europes top teams, the chances of winning the tournament are high, at least the team should reach the final game based on statistics. France has won in the past being hosts of the 1998 World Cup, before fading. Although stories like the Portugal defeat vs Greece in the finals, an underdog, when Portugal was the host of the Euro Cup. This time France will not have it as easy with Germany, Spain and a strong Italy. During the final games of the qualifiers, Germany was defeated by France, a very strong omen of what could happen.
France 2 – 0 Germany 2015 Friendly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laqCOY2z0OE
Defense, the reason why France might not win
The French team biggest weakness is defense, and in several games the team conceded several easy goals from struggling opponents. Their biggest issue seems to be player to player referencing, pass line block and coordinated movements. Players do not seem to have bonded entirely during the qualifying phase.
French Skills and Strengths
So how did France manage to present so many clean sheets which such a terrible defense? The Goal keeper Hugo Lloris, also known by the fans as Captain Marvel. A perfect leader, confident and one hell of a goalkeeper that plays for the Tottenham Hotspurs.
Karim Benzema is one of the best players in the world, despite his club Real Madrid going through a difficult situation at the present. Karim Benzema has been Spain´s best goal scorer of the season, but as a player plays a lonesome wolf and rarely collaborates with team members. Surprisingly, he doesn’t score as much with the French team as he does with Real Madrid.
Pogba, also known as Paul the Octopus in Italy were he plays with Juventus for his long limbs that steal the ball from rivals, offers mostly defensive skills with the chance of scoring goals with a powerful kick. He is still a player in the making and has much to offer France.
Diarra joins Pogba in the midfield with a lot more strength and reliability to the attackers. A nice partnership that gives different tactical advantages to the head coach.
Anthony Martial is the prodigal son of Manchester United that offers a great scoring capacity when Benema is not in his best. Martial can even make history in the Euro 2016.
France Betting Tips
France to win in the group stages – As a host and with its nice last games records it would be almost impossible for France to lose before reaching the final games. Too many good players to play poorly.
Win or Draw against top rivals – Being the local team can only get France so far.
Over 0.5 first half goals – France has a poor defense but a stong offense. That allows for the rival to score against France and France to score quickly.
Over 1.5 goals total – France will be a total demolition machine in front of their fans, that will also increase the chances of getting nailed when risking too much when players like Benzema are on the field.
For more betting tips and insights visit the France betting tips complete article.
Germany Betting
Germany begun as the top favorite to win the Euro Cup and remains a more solid candidate than France. The Oddsmakers give both Germany and France odds of 3 or 10/3 of winning the tournament, with some giving the Germans a slight favoritism.
During the qualification phase Germany finished first in its group conceding only 3 losses in 10 games, which is actually more than expected. The hardest rival for the Germans was Ireland, which managed to win at home and draw as a visitor. The other losses were the friendly matches against the USA and France (the day of the November 13 terrorist attacks).
The most important fact about recent German games is the fact they have only drawn once, with Ireland at home.
Germany Facts to Keep in Mind
- Have scored at least one goal in 8 of 11 recent matches, and one of those was a friendly.
- Tends to concede at least one goal against rivals of weight, only teams that couldn´t score against Germany during the last qualifiers phase were Gibraltar and Georgia.
- Best chance to bet against Germany are friendly matches, 2 of the 3 games it lost were friendlies against respectable rivals.
- Germany doesn’t win the Euro Cup since back in 1996, their best most recent result has been the 2006 edition when they reached the finals.
- In the most recent Euro Cup of 2012 they reached the semifinals, and they won 14 of 15 games during the tournament with no draws.
- Germany rarely draws a game.
Key Players to Consider
Bastian Schweinsteiger – Present captain and 32 years old, and not as fit as in his better years. Still, he is considered on the best midfielders in the world. He was recently transferred from Bayern Munich to Manchester United for 2.5 million.
His game style is more of a stay put around the midfield and create as many passes as possible. He doesn´t move up and down the field and rarely generates assists, goals on his behalf are even rarer. More of a brain than a muscle in the team.
Thomas Muller – The young striker has been rising in his skill ever since the World Cup in 2014. Plays best as a right wing, a position that allows him to cut in the area side by side the main striker creating a deadly combination. But in his club Bayern Munich he has played as a striker, were he creates more assists but less goals. This is good when there is an excess of skilled strikers like the German team does.
Checkout his goal stats: 12 games played in Bundesliga, 11 goals; 4 games played in Champions League, 4 goals; 9 games in Euro Cup qualifiers, 9 goals.
Marco Reus – A side striker with Muller, considered one the world’s best players in 2014 that suffered an injury in the 2015 season dampening his stats. His performance reduced 50% in goal delivery this last season but has time to recover before the Euro Cup begins. His best stats in 2014 show 23 assists and 23 goals for Borussia Dortmund, quite deadly in the goalie zone and partnered with Muller, the main result for 5+ goals every once in a while.
Mario Gotze – A multi-position striker than can either be a left wing, striker and false 9. His skills rely more in speed and assist opportunities than goal conversions. Not very good on the man vs man battle and aerial duels. Plays well the first half and tires for the second, he fails to control his stamina.
Toni Kroos – One of the world’s top midfielders that plays for Real Madrid. Versatile and adaptive he can play on Schweinsteiger´s position when the Germans require someone that can back-up defense or offense as he moves around the field more often. Just like Schweinsteiger his assist numbers are few with no goals converted, but an over 93% passing accuracy and 19 goal opportunities with Real Madrid.
Germany Betting Tips
- Top Tip: Over 1.5 total match goals.
- Over 0.5 goals during the first half.
- Germany to win against low and mid-level rivals.
- Mid-level and high-level rivals No clean sheet against Germany, or rival team to score over 0.5 goals which is almost the same thing.
- Thomas Muller to score anytime or first scorer for Germany.
*Special Tip: Lay bet Germany to lose during friendly matches against mid-level or higher rivals, or rival to draw no bet. The odds will probably give Germany the favoritism but recent stats show´s Germany does not farewell during friendlies, probably because they tryout many different new players and ideas while their rivals play their best cards.
Another way to take this bet is Under 2.5 German team goals or Under 3.5 overall goals.
*For more Germany betting tips during the Euro Cup, visit the full article.
Reference Links
[1] UEFA.com, UEFA Euro Cup Offial Site, 2016
