In this article, we take a look at the forces at play in Group A at Euro 2024 and attempt to make some predictions.

Who will be the two qualifiers from Group A at Euro 2024 ?

GERMANY

- To Win the Group: Odds -203 (1.49*)

- To Win Euro 2024: Odds +497 (5.97*)

Germany is the most successful country in the history of the European Championship, with victories in 1972, 1980 (both as West Germany), and 1996. With three World Cups in that period and four in total, no European nation has a greater haul of major honors.

However, they approach the 17th edition of this competition, which they will host from June 14 to July 14, in a somewhat strange position. Less than a year ago, Hansi Flick became the first Germany manager to be sacked after a run of one draw and four defeats in five matches.

While their form hasn’t been flawless since, two wins over France and a victory against the Netherlands will have rebuilt a little belief. New manager Julian Nagelsmann has convinced Toni Kroos to come out of international retirement, adds further experience to the side with the likes of Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, and Ilkay Gündoğan, and can deploy exciting young attackers such as Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, and Kai Havertz.

It has been 40 years since the host nation of the European Championship has lifted the trophy. Germany may be too erratic to end that run, but they are third favorites in the outright market and should go deep into the competition.

SWITZERLAND

- To Win the Group: Odds +502 (6.02*)

- To Win Euro 2024: Odds +6770 (68.70*)

Switzerland might be the most likely team to reach the Round of 16 in international football. They have fallen at that hurdle in the last three World Cups and in five of the last six for which they have qualified.

While they reached the quarterfinals at Euro 2020, knocking out defending World Cup holders France on penalties, the Swiss only got through the Group Stage as one of the best third-placed teams. Thanks to a relatively kind draw, manager Murat Yakin can be confident of reaching the knockout phase once again.

He may have to hope some tight margins go in his side’s favor though. Switzerland drew five of their 10 qualification matches, doing so home and away against Kosovo and having to come from 3-1 down at home against Belarus. March friendlies saw the Swiss draw 0-0 with Denmark and beat Ireland 1-0, so again there was not much between the teams in those games either.

Their side is not without quality. Manuel Akanji is a regular for Manchester City while Granit Xhaka won the Bundesliga this season with Bayer Leverkusen. Xherdan Shaqiri has played for many big clubs too.

But their top scorer in qualifying was Zeki Amdouni, who at the time of writing has five goals in 33 Premier League starts for Burnley. It is reasonable to ask if Switzerland can score enough goals to go far in the competition. Round of 16 exit, anyone?

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HUNGARY

- To Win the Group: Odds +652 (7.52*)

- To Win Euro 2024: Odds +8203 (83.03*)

Hungary has been building towards having a decent tournament for quite some time. They have not appeared at the World Cup since 1986 but have been at the last two European Championships.

In 2016, they got through the group stage unbeaten only to come up against Belgium and a 4-0 loss. While they then fell at the first hurdle at Euro 2020, the Hungarians did hold France and Germany to draws, leading against both.

They had a very good qualifying campaign, with five wins and three draws from their eight matches. When all the sides in qualification were ranked ahead of the draw for the finals, Hungary was sixth, ahead of the likes of Italy and the Netherlands. They have a definite chance of reaching the knockout phase.

Captain Dominik Szoboszlai had a fine first season in English football with Liverpool and was Hungary’s joint-top scorer in qualifying alongside Barnabás Varga. Following friendlies in March, the Hungarians were unbeaten in 14 matches, and Euro 2024 could easily become their best tournament showing since the 1970s.

SCOTLAND

- To Win the Group: Odds +800 (9.00*)

- To Win Euro 2024: Odds +8203 (83.03*)

Some nations will arrive in Germany with realistic hopes of winning the tournament. For Scotland, making the knockout phase would feel almost as good.

The Scots have famously never made it past the group stage of a major tournament, having qualified for eight World Cups and three previous European Championships. However, they only lost one of eight matches to reach Germany, making it their best qualification program for over 20 years.

The defeat was in Spain, which was to be expected, with Scotland winning the home meeting 2-0. As impressive as that result was, recent form does not inspire as much confidence.

Steve Clarke’s men played seven games between September and March, drawing two and losing the other five. There’s no shame in suffering defeats to England, France, the Netherlands, and Spain, but how confident will they feel when heading to Germany?

While they are decent defensively, with eight goals conceded in eight qualifiers, scoring remains a concern. Manchester United’s Scott McTominay scored seven of their 17 goals in qualification, with Aston Villa’s John McGinn (three) the only other player to get more than one.

With a defeat to Germany the likely outcome of the opening game of the tournament, Scotland will be up against it immediately.

PREDICTION

As much as Germany has a patchy recent tournament record, with group-stage exits at the last two World Cups, it would be a shock if they failed to win a relatively easy section on home turf.

But while Pinnacle has Switzerland as second favorites in Group A, they did not top their qualification group, whereas the Hungarians did, and the latter have also enjoyed a long unbeaten run. Hungary looks like a value pick to take the second automatic qualifying spot.

Find all Euro 2024 match odds on Bet2invest

*Odds subject to change