Bodog’s Euro 2024 Betting Preview
Is it finally coming home? England may be the birthplace of soccer, but they’ve only got one major trophy to their name: the 1966 World Cup. It’s almost unfathomable that the Three Lions have never won the UEFA European Championship, while the Soviet Union (1960), Denmark (1992) and Greece (2004) have all lifted the Henri Delaunay Trophy.
That’s what makes the Euros so exciting – anyone can win. It could be England this year; they’re the top team on the Euro 2024 betting lines at Bodog Sportsbook. Or it could be one of Europe’s other powerhouse teams from France or Germany.
But chances are good it’ll be someone else. It could be a mid-tier team on the soccer odds board like Portugal, who won it in 2016, or it could be a true dark horse like Denmark. Our Euro 2024 betting preview will look at all of these potential champions, and we’ll see if there’s anything that recent Euro history can tell us about this year’s tournament, which begins this Friday with Germany as the host nation.
The Favourites
You know the Lions (+350 at Bodog as we go to press) must be loaded for bear when they didn’t have room on the final 26-player squad for Harry Maguire and Jack Grealish. And this was after Marcus Rashford, Jordan Henderson and Ben Chiwell failed to make the 33-player cut.
Gareth Southgate isn’t messing around. England’s manager isn’t taking anyone’s talents for granted at this point; struggling veterans, however reliable they were in the past, have been replaced by the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, who might already be Manchester United’s best player at age 19.
Those are the cut-throat decisions that help you win championships. France (+400) do things differently, though; they prefer a tight-knit group that leans on veterans, and while that’s been to their detriment at times, this year’s big names include Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann and more.
Then you have the host country. Germany (+500) haven’t just overturned their roster; they’ve also changed managers, firing Hansi Flick last September and replacing him with wunderkind Julian Nagelsmann. This might be the best value bet among the top three Euro betting favourites at Bodog, especially coming out of Group A, which includes Hungary (+10000), Switzerland (+8000) and Scotland (+15000).
Dark Horses
England, France and Germany may be a step above the competition, but at the odds listed above, there’s almost a 40% chance that someone else is going to win Euro 2024. Nobody would be surprised if it were one of the remaining usual suspects from the upper tiers of the soccer odds:
– Portugal (+650)
– Spain (+800)
– Italy (+1800)
– Netherlands (+1800)
– Belgium (+2000)
This list features the three most recent European champions (Italy, Portugal and Spain), plus the 1988 champs from Holland, and a Belgian team that was No. 1 on the FIFA charts as recently as 2022. None of them can be considered a true Euro dark horse.
For that, you have to look at someone like Croatia (+3500), who have a history of outperforming expectations under manager Zlatko Dalic. Croatia still have Luka Modric, and loads of talent across the pitch – but they’re also in Group B, this year’s Group of Death, alongside Spain, Italy and Albania (+25000).
Or perhaps it’ll be Denmark (+5000) who once again shock the world. They withstood a difficult qualifying group to make it this far, but the Danes should have a relatively easy time advancing from Group C along with England, given that Serbia (+10000) and Slovenia (+25000) supply the opposition.
For that matter, Switzerland looks like a decent choice to make it out of Group A with Germany. They advanced to the Group of 16 at World Cup 2022, and they eliminated France from Euro 2020; with midfielder Granit Xhaka coming off an undefeated Bundesliga season at Bayer Leverkusen, anything is possible for the Swiss.
Top Scorer Odds
Okay, enough about who will win Euro 2024. It’s time to look at the names on the back of the uniforms. Top Scorer betting is all the rage, and this year, the top favourite is Mbappe (+450), the aforementioned French forward. Mbappe has been the Ligue 1 Golden Boot winner every year since 2018-19 and was the top scorer for both the 2022 World Cup and the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League.
If anyone can match Mbappe goal for goal, it might be Harry Kane (+525). The Three Lions captain will be on familiar turf, having played striker for Bayern Munich this year and having won the European Golden Shoe with 36 goals in 32 matches. Kane was also a three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner for Tottenham Hotspur, and the leading scorer at the 2018 World Cup.
It’s a big step down the odds board from those two favourites to Cristiano Ronaldo – and his Top Scorer odds may be somewhat inflated at +1200. Ronaldo has won pretty much all the Golden Boot accolades the world has to offer, and the Portuguese superstar is coming off a 49-goal season (in 47 appearances) for Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. But that league is somewhat lacking in quality, and Ronaldo himself is well past his prime at age 39.
If the dark horses we listed above have any legs, the best Top Scorer bets for Euro 2024 might be Denmark’s Rasmus Hojlund (+4000), or Switzerland’s Zeki Amdouni (+17500). Both are very capable of finding the back of the onion bag; it’s just a question of how many matches they’ll get to play, and as we said, both their teams are strong candidates to reach the knockout stage.
Previous Tournaments
Four years is a long time in sports. Even if the top of the European soccer ladder always seems to contain the same eight teams, their individual fortunes have waxed and waned from one Euro tournament to the next.
Consider the most recent winners from Italy. They weren’t among the Top 10 teams on the FIFA rankings when they won Euro 2020, but the Azzuri swept Group A before knocking out Austria and Belgium, then survived both Spain and England on penalties to win their second European Championship. That upset helped bring Italy back into the international spotlight, although they’ve slipped from No. 4 in 2021 to No. 9 on today’s FIFA charts.
Portugal’s somewhat shocking win in 2016 was maybe not all that shocking in retrospect. They’ve been reliably competitive since the turn of the millennium, and were pushing their way up the FIFA rankings from eighth to as high as fourth in the year before that tournament. After upsetting France 1-0 in the final, Portugal spent most of 2017-18 in third or fourth, but haven’t been higher than their current No. 6 since.
There’s no question that Spain have fallen off since their back-to-back Euro wins in 2008 and 2012. The collapse didn’t happen overnight; La Roja were still No. 1 on the FIFA rankings almost uninterrupted through the summer of 2014 – when they were eliminated from the Group Stage at the World Cup. Spain have yet to recover, sitting at No. 8 heading into Euro 2024.
Most Euros Wins
It took them a while to finally reach the top of the mountain, but with those two victories, Spain matched Germany (including West Germany) with three European Championships. Spain’s first win was on home soil back in 1964, when the tournament was known as the European Nations’ Cup.
Germany’s three Euro wins came in 1972, 1980, and 1996 – three different eras for Die Mannschaft. The first was led by Gerd Muller, the second by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and the third by Matthias Sammer. Despite being one of the best teams (and often the very best) in international soccer since then, Germany have yet to win their fourth Euro. That could all change very soon in front of their loyal supporters.
The only other winners of multiple European Championships are Italy (1968, 2020) and France (1984, 2000). Six other teams have won the title once:
– Soviet Union (1960)
– Czechoslovakia (1976)
– Netherlands (1988)
– Denmark (1992)
– Greece (2004)
– Portugal (2016)
Superstars
There has never been as stellar a crop of soccer superstars as what we’re witnessing today. The amount of money that’s available now is colossal; everyone’s training harder and fighting harder to earn a piece of that pie. Sheer talent is no longer enough.
But there’s no questioning the talent of our following Top 10 players to watch at Euro 2024. You can bet on all these superstars – and the teams they represent – by checking out the Euro 2024 odds board at Bodog Sportsbook. Make your picks today, and we’ll see you in Germany for the biggest tournament in European soccer.
Kylian Mbappe, France
Not to repeat ourselves, but Mbappe is the straw that stirs the drink in France. He is in fine form at age 25, already the team captain and a strong contender for this year’s Ballon d’Or as the best player in the world. In addition to being the Euro 2024 Top Scorer favourite, Mbappe is the +700 favourite to be named UEFA Player of the Tournament when all is said and done.
Jude Bellingham, England
Mainoo may be the hot Premier League commodity for England, but it’s the 20-year-old Bellingham (+1000 for Player of the Tournament) who figures to be their most important player. Bellingham is coming off a dream season at Real Madrid where he scored 19 goals in 28 matches, including each of his first four Champions League appearances. Not even Ronaldo has done that for Real.
Florian Wirtz, Germany
Speaking of dream seasons, Wirtz (18 goals and 20 assists) was just named Bundesliga Player of the Year after leading Bayer Leverkusen to an undefeated domestic campaign. At age 21, Wirtz is Germany’s heir apparent to Toni Kroos, and as such represents excellent betting value at +2500 to win Euro 2024 Player of the Tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal
Okay, he might not be the player he once was, but everyone’s going to be watching Ronaldo (+1800) at this year’s tournament – if only to see what he’s still capable of. Maybe the five-time Ballon D’Or winner will add to his record total of 14 goals at the Euros; maybe manager Roberto Martinez will have to make some difficult decisions of his own.
Rodri, Spain
On a squad that’s lacking in name recognition, Rodri (+3000) is the most likely to make a splash at Euro 2024. The 27-year-old Manchester City midfielder is the fulcrum of this team, and he’s rarely on the losing side; City’s FA Cup defeat at the hands of Manchester United was Rodri’s first loss anywhere since March 2023.
Harry Kane, England
England’s captain and most recognizable player scored 45 goals for Bayern Munich in 45 matches, but after giving Nagelsmann the pink slip, his team took a back seat to Bayer Leverkusen. Kane’s star power is enough to leave him third on the UEFA Player of the Tournament odds at +1100; he and Bellingham will have to split the votes with several other players if the Lions make a deep run.
Phil Foden, England
Foden (+1500) is one of those players. Yet another powerful midfielder for Manchester City, Foden was named the Premier League’s Player of the Season, and at age 24 will be looking to build on his appearances at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.
Toni Kroos, Germany
Once more unto the breach for Kroos (+1500), the 34-year-old midfielder who has already announced his retirement at the end of this tournament. The long time standout at Bayern Munich and Real Madrid can still be counted on to provide a key assist or two for Germany.
Kevin de Bruyne, Belgium
De Bruyne (+2000) was the PFA Players’ Player of the Year in 2019-20 and again in 2020-21, but he’s no longer even the best midfielder for Manchester City after multiple hamstring injuries. Belgium needs de Bruyne to return to form.
Bruno Fernandes, Portugal
It was a frustrating year for Fernandes (+2500) at Manchester United, but it ended in victory at the FA Cup, with Fernandes – their team captain – providing the assist to Mainoo in their 2-1 win over City. Now the 29-year-old midfielder has the chance to win his first Euro title with Portugal after joining their senior squad in 2017.
Hopefully now you’re sufficiently pumped up following our detailed Euro 2024 betting preview. If so, our Sportsbook is home to some of the hottest soccer odds around. Deposit with crypto today and make the most of our generous welcome offer.
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