Real Madrid’s win over Borussia Dortmund officially marks the end of the 2023-24 European club football season, but you won’t have to wait too long until some more high-stakes football is on your doorstep.
The UEFA European Championship, held every four years to determine the continental champion, kicks off in Germany on June 14.
The 24 participating teams are divided into six groups of four teams each, with the top two teams from each group and the top four teams finishing in the top three advancing to the round of 16.
England, who have not won a major international tournament since 1966, are favourites at +320 to win the tournament, but the Three Lions are unlikely to run away with the lead.
Kylian Mbappe and France come in second at +380, with Germany (+430), Spain (+650) and Portugal (+700) rounding out the top five.
The winner of the tournament is likely to emerge from this group of five teams, but the Euros rarely go according to script and we more often than not see big surprises making it to the semi-finals or beyond.
The most famous example is when Greece came from 150-1 behind to win Euro 2004, achieving one of the biggest shocks in the history of international football.
But Greece is not the only dark horse at Euros: Turkey, Russia, Czech Republic, Wales and Denmark have all reached the semi-finals in the previous five editions of the tournament.
With that in mind, we’ll be sure to keep some long shots on our Euro 2024 betting card.
Euro 2024 long shot
Serbia (80/1, DraftKings)
The group hat has put Serbia at a disadvantage, having been drawn in the same group as England, Denmark and Slovenia, but there is an upside to that tough draw – if they make it through they will almost certainly be in good form heading into the final stages of the tournament.
The Eagles are seen as the third favourite after England and Denmark, but the gap between them and Denmark is not that big and we cannot rule out Serbia having a shot at a top two finish.
Serbia have a strong centre-back presence with elusive striker Aleksandar Mitrovic in front of a skilled midfield and goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, who is coming off a strong season in Turin.
Being difficult to beat is an invaluable asset in tournament football and Serbia’s combination of quality and potential makes them a hidden gem worth betting on.
Romania (230/1, FanDuel)
Let’s go crazy.
There will be little talk about whether Romania will qualify for Euro 2024, but that’s no bad thing for value hunters looking for teams that have the potential to absolutely beat those low odds.
Most importantly, Romania’s draw is fantastic: they’re in Group E with Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine, and have a good chance of finishing second and qualifying automatically for the last 16.
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But it’s not just the draw that makes the Tricolors attractive long-shot contenders: they also just finished a qualifying campaign in which they topped their group with an unbeaten record of six wins and four draws, finishing five points behind Switzerland despite a less gruelling schedule.
