France Favorites in Tricky Euro 2024 Group D
Euro 2024 Group D Odds: Plenty of Stars on Display
Lewandowski’s Last Ride?
Kylian Mbappe and France are among the favorites to win Euro 2024. Mbappe wasn’t able to deliver PSG a Champions League title in his last season with the club but he’s got an excellent supporting cast with Les Bleus. France are in a tricky group, which also includes the Netherlands, Poland and Austria. Robert Lewandowski has still been playing at a high level but this could be the last international tournament for Poland’s all-time leading scorer. With plenty of stars on display, we’ll preview the Euro 2024 Group D odds.
France’s World Cup Winning Attack Still Around
Didier Deschamps has one of the most talented groups of players to work with at this Summer’s European Championship. France has perhaps the most balanced roster in the tournament, with no glaring weaknesses from back to front. Having Mbappe can sometimes feel like a cheat code, like when he bailed France out of an awful World Cup Final performance with a hat trick.
France still lost the 2022 World Cup Final but their potential to make deep runs in major tournaments is clear. Their 2018 World Cup-winning attack of Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud, and Antoine Griezmann is still around and Mbappe scored nine times in qualifiers.
William Saliba and Ibrahima Konate could form a young but incredibly talented center back partnership. Meanwhile, left back Theo Hernandez is as attack-minded as fullbacks come and Aurelien Tchouameni should provide defensive balance to the midfield if he recovers from an injury in time.
Even if he doesn’t, France should automatically advance as one of the top two teams in the group. Les Bleus show -190 Euro 2024 Group D odds to finish in first place and long +3300 odds to finish in fourth.
Netherlands Draw France Again
There are some notable omissions from this Netherlands squad, like Joshua Zirkzee and Ian Maatsen. Ronald Koeman’s side is crying out for a player with the ability of Zirkzee in the final third but it seems like they’ll be relying on Memphis Depay and Wout Weghorst once again. Granted, Cody Gakpo and Xavi Simons are two exciting young players. This is an excellent Dutch team outside of the final third, where there are still question marks.
Virgil van Dijk provides experience and leadership at the back, along with Nathan Ake. Koeman has the luxury of selecting between Micky van de Ven, Stefan de Vrij, and Matthijs de Ligt for his third center back. Jeremie Frimpong, Daley Blind, and Denzel Dumfries are all capable wingbacks as well.
The Netherlands lost twice to France in their qualifying campaign and they’ll be cursing their luck in the UEFA Euro 2024 draw. The Netherlands are the most likely team to finish in second place in the group but they can’t afford a slip-up against Poland nor Austria. The Euro 2024 lines price the Oranje at +275 odds to win the group and +1200 odds to finish dead last.
Poland Barely Advance to Euro 2024
To say Poland’s qualifying campaign was a disappointment would be an understatement. They finished in third place in Group E, behind both Albania and Czechia. In two games vs. Moldova, Poland lost and drew. Robert Lewandowski, now 35, led Poland in scoring in qualifiers but even he scored just three goals. It took a penalty shootout victory in the Euro Qualifying Play-off over Wales for Poland to make it here.
They can frustrate teams defensively but don’t expect Poland to create many chances for Lewandowski. Midfielders Piotr Zielinski and Sebastian Szymanski will be important pieces here, as they’re some of the few Polish players who you’d expect to be able to unlock defenses.
Poland did defeat Germany in a friendly match last year but many people think they’ll finish at the bottom of the Group D UEFA Euro standings. Right now, they display +1000 odds to win the group and -140 odds to finish in last place.
Austria Resurgent Under Rangnick
Since Ralf Rangnick took over the Austrian national team two years ago, he’s compiled a 13-3-5 record. In the last 12 months, they’ve lost just one match and have beaten fellow Euro 2024 teams Germany, Turkey and Slovakia. Austria, even without center back David Alaba and midfielder Xaver Schlager, could pull off an upset or two in Group D.
What Austria lack in exceptional talents, they make up in industry. Konrad Laimer (Bayern Munich) and Marcel Sabitzer (Borussia Dortmund) should be the engines of the team. Christoph Baumgartner is also one to watch. He’s scored in each of his last three games for Austria.
While Alaba and Schlager are out with ACL injuries, so is forward Sasa Kalajdzic, who has had terrible injury luck since Euro 2020. Marko Arnautovic and Michael Gregoritsch will be Austria’s main forward options. Burschen will be impacted by the injuries but are still a capable side. They are priced at +800 Euro 2024 Group D odds to come in first and +125 odds to finish behind France, the Netherlands, and Poland.
