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Our Euro 2016 group coverage ends with Group F, where Portugal is the main favorite to advance, with Austria and Iceland on their tails. Hungary seems like the obvious outsider and might just have to settle for a fourth place finish.
PORTUGAL – odds to win Group F: 1.85 @ Ohmbet
Portugal cruised in the Euro 2016 qualifiers, winning 7 out of 8 games against the likes of Denmark, Albania or Serbia and Ronaldo’s side definitely has an argument to win the group, maybe also to go far in the tournament. However, Portugal often relies too much on Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite owning big name players up front, it has always been a struggle for Portugal to get the offense going, they can`t run behind defenders and in the end the Real Madrid star has to come to the rescue for 1-0 or 2-1 wins. Good news for Portugal is that Ronaldo could well have a great tournament. He is coming after a Champions League winning season at Real Madrid, he`s healthy and he knows that this might be his last (and best) chance to lead his National team towards a special result. He would be my choice for top scorer of the tournament, as Portugal should be able to at least reach the quarterfinals, winning this group in the process – albeit there might well be a few hiccups along the way.
- Key players: Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe
- Strong spots: Cristiano Ronaldo, Individual quality, Well organized defense, Star power, Set pieces
- Weak spots: Lack of Depth, Offense can become ultra cold, Dependence on Cristiano Ronaldo, Inconsistency
AUSTRIA – odds to qualify: 1.45 @ Bwin
Austria had the best qualification campaign among all European Nations, losing just 2 points (!!) and posting an incredible stat line of 9-1-0 in a group that wasn`t easy – as they had to play Russia and Sweden. Austria hasn`t been as effective in recent friendlies, losing 3 of 5 matches since the qualifying campaign ended. That, along with their lack of pedigree at International tournaments might suggest that Austria’s Euro 2016 tournament will not be as successful as their qualifying campaign. It will probably not be, but they should still get out of this group. If their excellent backbone of key players (Fuchs, Alaba, Arnautovic, Janko) performs well, Austria will finish at least second in Group F. Look for Austria’s talent up front to guarantee them chances to score against any team in the competition.
- Key players: David Alaba, Marc Janko
- Strong spots: Offense, Brilliant qualifying campaign, Excellent team backbone, Set pieces
- Weak spots: Inconsistent form in friendlies, Defense can be prone to errors, Lack of depth on the bench, Lack of experience at final tournaments
ICELAND – odds to qualify: 1.71 @ 18Bet
Iceland shocked the football world by easily qualifying from a group that featured Netherlands, Czech Republic or Turkey, but the progress of Iceland as a football nation was visible since the World Cup 2014 qualifiers, when they narrowly missed out on the final tournament. With a fast paced, dynamic side that is an absolute beast on the break, Iceland defeated Netherlands twice in the qualifiers and did it in style. While they might not have the quality of Portugal, Iceland still has a generation of very talented players and they are not all about tactics and counter-attacking – they own difference makers as well. Lack of experience and a shaky defense seem to be Iceland’s main problems coming into the Euros, as well as their suspect form in friendlies after the qualifiers ended, as they lost 7 out of the previous 10 matches, albeit there was some bad luck involved in some of those losses.
- Key players: Gylfi Sugurdsson, Alfred Finnbogason
- Strong spots: Counter attacking, Fast pace, Transition, Attitude, Proven giant killing ability
- Weak spots: Defense, Lack of experience at final tournaments, Lack of depth, Keeper position, Poor form in friendlies
HUNGARY – odds to qualify: 2.38 @ 18Bet
There`s a fair case to be made that Hungary is the weakest team to take part in Euro 2016, albeit there are definitely 2-3 other countries in the same conversation as them. The Hungarians finished third in a very poor qualifying group, ending up behind Romania and Northern Ireland, even being challenged by Finland until the second to last round. Without showing much of anything during the group stages, they were underdogs in the playoffs against Norway, but proved to be the more mature team. Norway utterly dominated Hungary in terms of chances and possession, but the Hungarians played a more clever brand of football and with some luck, they got trough. Hungary will need to show the same tactical intelligence and determination as they did against Norway if they want to get anything in this group – but I don`t think they will, as the level of football played is just to poor compared to what their opponents bring to the table. Their best chance might be against Iceland, as the Islanders might not be comfortable having to take initiative and dominate possession.
- Key players: Balazs Dzsudzsak, Zoltan Gera
- Strong spots: Discipline, Determination, Good tactics, Hard to defeat
- Weak spots: Lack of quality, Lack of depth, Poor offense, Old key players, No creativity, Keeper position, Slow pace, Lack of experience at final tournaments
You will find all of our articles, group previews and betting talk in the Euro 2016 blog topic, both pre – tournament and during the tournament. When it all starts on June 10th, make sure to check out Betdistrict’s Euro 2016 tips, as we will have predictions for all the matches in France.
