Euro Cup Group F Futures

Euro Cup Group F Futures

Jason Green

Group F has to be the easiest group in the European Championships and while Portugal has the best odds to win their best player in Cristiano Ronaldo has injury concerns.

Portugal -150

Cristiano Ronaldo is still the leader of the Portugal squad, but he is banged up and may not even play in the Champions League final. If he is out for the Euros Portugal has a tall task to say the least. Even with Ronaldo the Portuguese were less than solid on the attack only scoring 11 goals in 10 qualifying matches. They only conceded five goals and the defense is solid, but they are prone to errors in the midfield, which can hurt them. They lost to lowly Albania in qualifying so the other squads in this group have a chance, especially if Ronaldo is not fit.

Austria +200

Austria was one of the biggest surprises in qualifying, as they won their group and scored 22 goals and only conceded five. They have talent led by Bayern Munich's David Alaba and Basel's Marc Janko, who was the top scorer for the squad in qualifying. Austria plays a very high-pace pressing game, which can give teams trouble, but can also leave them exposed when they make mistakes. The midfield play will be key and they come into the Euro with confidence winning their last nine qualifying matches.

Iceland +450

Iceland may be the feel-good squad of the Euro, as they are a nation of only 330,00 people and they are playing in their first international major tournament. Gylfi Sigurdsson of Swansea, Aron Gunnarsson or Cardiff and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson or Nantes lead the squad that 17 goals and only conceded six in qualifying play. For Iceland to have any chance they will have to pack the backline and win low scoring matches relying on the counter-attack. While they are in a weak group will Iceland be ready for top-flight play? In their last five friendlies they did not play any team playing in Euro Championships and they lost to the United States and even to the United Arab Emirates.

Hungary +1000

Hungary is the long shot to win the group and with good reason with their lack of world-class players. They have a solid veteran GK in Gabor Kiraly and while they qualified they were only 4-4-2 in group play scoring 11 goals and conceding nine. Like Iceland their defense will have to be strong to get out of group play and they have to pounce on counter-attack chances, as they are likely to be dominated in the time-of-possession battle, especially facing Portugal and Austria.