Euro 2020: Betting preview and selections as Portugal, Germany and France prepare to launch 'Group of Death'

The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Manuel Neuer will all feature as Portugal, France and Germany try to cement themselves as favourites for the competition. Hungary are the unlucky candidates who will be looking to make the most of their huge home support over two games as they try to revel in their underdog status.

While they’ll be competing for the top position in Group F, all three of the heavyweights could go through to the knockouts with one side finishing amongst the best third place finishers. Due to this, a big win for Portugal against Hungary in the opener could almost guarantee them a passage through to the last 16 while France vs Germany should be much tighter. Didier Deschamps and Joachim Low both have coached their sides to World Cup glory so it will be a fascinating encounter.

The day’s opening fixture sees a repeat of a group stage game from the previous Euros as underdogs Hungary take on current holders Portugal at 5pm. This could be the highest attended match over June and July as the Puskas Arena in Budapest aims to host 100% of its capacity. That means 61,000 supporters could get a seat with the vast majority hoping that Hungary cause an upset. In Euro 2016 the Hungarians finished first in their group above Iceland and Portugal and the tie between the two sides was an absolute classic finishing 3-3 with goals from Zoltan Gera, Balazs Dzsudzsk, Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Despite being a third place finisher in that group, Portugal went on to win the tournament and have even more hope now than they did five years ago. Keeping the core of the squad from what was their first Euros title, they now have a plethora of younger and more established stars including Ruben Dias, Bruno Fernandes and Joao Felix. They are favourites at 9/20 for this game with Hungary at 13/2 but another draw such as the one in 2016 is set at 10/3 with a repeat of the 3-3 at 80/1.

Cristiano Ronaldo has the chance in this game to surpass Michele Platini’s record of goals in Euros tournaments as he sits on nine with the great Frenchman. He’s 10/11 to score anytime as he looks to get another record under his belt. Head Coach Fernando Santos has a wealth of attacking players to use alongside Ronaldo but Bruno Fernandes will certainly start looking the part in his team’s 4-0 victory over Israel in a friendly. He scored two in both halves and is currently 11/4 to find the net over 90 minutes.

Germany and France follow on at 8pm with the Germans having home advantage in Munich. After a horrendous 2018 World Cup in which they didn’t get out of the group, Germany will be looking to bounce back in a tournament they’ve won three times. Their last triumph came in Euro 1996 with a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic at Wembley so will take solace in the fact that this year’s tournament ends in the same destination. France edge the odds at 8/5 with Germany 9/5 on as they look for revenge after Les Bleus knocked them out of the Euro 2016 semi-final 2-0.

France carry the burden of being favourites with the bookmakers for the tournament at 9/2. This isn’t much of a curse considering the likes of Raphael Varane, N’Golo Kante and Mbappe amongst others offer world-class ability that other countries can only dream of. Karim Benzema is back after being omitted for the last two major international competitions so will be looking for his first goal in a tournament since against Switzerland in the 2014 World Cup. He is 15/8 to score anytime with Mbappe at shorter odds at 7/4. Antoine Griezmann finished the previous Euros top scorer and is 21/10 to find his first in this year’s edition.

Germany cruised to a 7-1 victory over Latvia in their final pre-competition friendly. They were aided by the return of Chelsea pair Timo Werner and Kai Havertz who played a half each. Thomas Muller, who is so prolific at World Cups, has yet to score at a Euros and has just returned after a two year expulsion from the German national side. It could finally be his time and is 5/2 to score during the 90 minutes with France. Serge Gnabry is the bookies’ tip to find the net and is 7/4 to score on his Euros debut.

Tips and analysis via bettingexpert.com.