With the club season now over, all the attention moves now to the international game.

All eyes now will focus on Germany with 24 teams competing to take out the Henri Delaunay Trophy and be the best in Europe.

The Euros have just gotten underway, let’s look at how the 24 teams are shaping up.

1. France
The World Cup runners-up and favourites to win the Euros.

Since that World Cup final, France has only lost two games which were both friendlies to Germany showing their strong form.

Their latest victories come against weaker competition against Chile and Luxembourg but would draw to Canada.

Their 25-man squad (one short of the full allocation) is very similar with 18 players in the squad having played in the 2022 World Cup.

Most of that focus will be on Real Madrid’s latest Galactico in Kylian Mbappe. After going goalless in Euro 2020, he is among the favourites for the Golden Boot and will be influential in how they do in the tournament.

2. Germany
A lot has changed in the space of twelve months for Germany.

After consecutive defeats against Poland, Colombia and Japan which all but brought Hansi Flick’s reign to an end, another former Bayern Munich manager Julian Naglesmann, has come in and helped provide a shot in the arm for the host nation’s chances for its tournament chances.

Naglesmann has come in and nailed down a consistent XI finding success with a 4-2-3-1 format in his friendlies with wins against France, the Netherlands and most recently Greece.

He also managed to bring Toni Kroos out of international retirement for one final tournament on home soil.

For Germany’s sake, they will want to ensure that they can send their 108-capped star out on a famed July night in Berlin.

3. England
When you have a squad containing the likes of Jude Bellingham, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and Harry Kane, you will always come into any tournament being among the favourites to win.

After beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-nil, there was little concern about preparations. But this was before their 1-nil loss to Iceland which has put a slight spanner in their lead-up.

This has certainly seen the pressure mount further on Gareth Southgate. As he admits himself, this is likely to be his last tournament in charge if he does not bring back the Henri Delaunay Trophy with him.

A performance like they had against Iceland does not help to remove some of that pressure coming into the Euros, whether this was a blip on the radar or something bigger.

Only two players from the Bosnia and Herzegovina match would start in the Iceland game but it was a far more experienced starting eleven for Iceland.

It does not appear like much right now before the tournament, but a poor showing in their opening game against Serbia may see the pressure go from 0-100 in a quick amount of time for the Three Lions.

4. Spain
Spain has once again managed to find their way into the contention of favouritism for this upcoming Euros.

The Nations League champions despite an early hiccup in the Euros qualifier losing to Scotland, would qualify with ease topping their group.

They have made light work of their most recent friendlies beating Northern Ireland 5-1 and Andorra 5-nil although those would be expected results.

Having beaten both Italy in the semis and then Croatia in the final of the Nations League, this will likely give confidence that after twelve months they can do it again in Group B.

5. Portugal
Portugal has some serious star power that will hopefully get them into the pointy end of the tournament.

With the likes of the Man City duo of Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva who both made the FIFPro World Eleven at the start of the year.

As well, Bruno Fernandes from Manchester United has the most assists across the Euro Qualifiers in the starting eleven, they have the potential to replicate what happened in Euro 2016.

Being led by the experienced combo of the 41-year-old Pepe in defence and 39-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo will certainly help.

Despite having a perfect record during the qualifying period, their latest form has been a mixed bag.

They have had a 5-2 win over Sweden and a 4-2 win over Finland this year, but they have also suffered losses to Croatia and Slovenia which you would expect Portugal to at least draw with, if not win against.

6. Italy
The previous Euros winners, Italy will hope to be the first team since Spain in 2008 and 2012 to go back-to-back. While they do not come into the tournament as favourites, that will not bother them.

It is quite a different look for Italy with only eight of the 26 players from their Euro triumph in 2020 returning for their defence of the trophy. These include the likes of Federico Chiesa, Nicolò Barella and Giovanni Di Lorenzo.

But arguably the most important from that 2020 squad playing in 2024 is Gianluigi Donnarumma.

The Paris Saint-Germain keeper who was named the player of the tournament from Euro 2020 is now four years later, leading the side as captain.

Winning results against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ecuador and Venezuela are expected and delivered with the only real unusual result being a draw to Turkey.

7. Netherlands
Back on his second stint as coach of the Netherlands, Ronald Koeman will want to avoid a repeat of Euro 2020 after dominating their group but being knocked out by the Czech Republic in the Round of 16.

In their most recent matches, they have had a trifecta of 4-nil wins against Scotland, Canada and Iceland which would be sandwiched by a 2-1 loss to Germany.

The major news surrounding the squad has been Frenkie de Jong. He has been ruled out for the tournament due to injury.

However, the midfield will largely be unaffected as his last game for the national team was back in September last year with plenty of depth coming from the PSV duo of Joey Veerman and Jerdy Schouten in that space.

8. Croatia
While in their last two World Cup appearances they have been able to finish 2nd and 3rd, the Euros have been a different story for Croatia.

Their last two appearances at the Euros have seen them knocked out in the Round of 16 both going to extra time.

Croatia will come into Germany with an experienced team once again as they try to squeeze the last bit of a golden generation.

They will have nine players with more than 50 caps which include Ivan Perisic, Domagoj Vida and Luka Modric demonstrating the longevity of this group.

From their most recent friendlies, they managed to beat North Macedonia 3-nil as well as defeat Portugal 2-1.

This goes along with their win at one of the newly introduced FIFA series competitions at the start of the year.

9. Belgium
Belgium comes into this tournament with plenty of experience. Seven out of the 25 players selected have played more than 60 caps for Belgium and this does not include Thibaut Courtois who was withdrawn from the squad.

His absence has created a battle for the No. 1 spot between Nottingham’s Matz Sels and former Wolfsburg keeper Koen Casteels now playing in Saudi Arabia.

They have won their last two friendlies against Luxembourg and Montenegro and in the two prior had draws against Ireland and England.

The key to their success will be how well Romelu Lukaku can perform. Over the last two years, he has scored 17 goals in the last 11 eleven matches for Belgium which will be a key focus for their Group E opposition to prevent his influence in the game.

10. Denmark
While it appears unlikely that the Danes will be unable to reach the semi-final as they did at the last Euros, there is still a team with upside that could challenge fellow knockout teams.

Currently on a three-game win streak heading into the tournament beating the Faroe Islands, Sweden and Norway, having some form coming into the tournament will help provide some confidence within a team environment.

Being an incredibly possession-based side as evident during qualification with the third highest possession percentage with 64.2% as well as most passes attempted with 6889.

With this importance on possession, it means that players with great passing completion within the squad such as Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg, Joachim Andersen and Andreas Christensen will be important to maintaining possession allowing for more opportunities to be created for their striker in Rasmus Hojlund.

11. Ukraine
With the backdrop of the war taking place, Ukraine will hope to inspire its people through a strong performance in Germany.

After managing to make their place at the Euros through the playoffs time around, Ukraine has managed to fall under the radar of most with a youth-led squad taking the charge and trying to make the quarter-finals and more once again.

This Ukraine squad has loads of depth with players having breakout seasons within their league competition. This includes the likes of Girona’s Artem Dovbyk who won the La Liga golden boot in his debut season.

In the same league, goalkeeper Andriy Lunin has also had a breakout year. Lunin has spent the majority of the season being the first-choice goalkeeper for Real Madrid after injuries to Courtois and Kepa saw them forced to play Lunin in goals who has thrived after years of being the third-choice pick.

Their form guide into the tournament with a 4-0 win to Moldova, nil-all draw against Germany and 3-1 loss to Poland is about where most people expect them to be.

12. Switzerland
After a quarter-final appearance for the first time in Euro 2020, the Swiss are hoping that was not merely a one-time occurrence.

Consistently, the Rossocrociati have found ways to make it beyond the group and appear likely to do so again in Group A. Since the 2014 World Cup, they have always qualified for the knockout stage.

Their latest results have not set the world on fire but are consistent with expectations with wins against Ireland and Estonia and draws against Denmark and Austria.

With the trio of Yann Sommer having a career-best season at Inter Milan having 25 clean sheets across 43 games and Granit Xhaka having a career-best year at Leverkusen leading the way and Manuel Akanji’s versatility across defensive positions helping him have a stellar season at Man City, they should be able to keep the knockout streak alive.

13. Austria
Taking his experience from managing Schalke, RB Leipzig and interim manager at Manchester United, Ralf Rangnick has helped Austria qualify for a third consecutive time at the European Championship which is a first for the nation.

Since their qualification, the Burschen have been in very good form and may cause an upset for a top-two place within Group D.

Through players such as RB Leipzig’s Christoph Baumgartner who has managed to score a goal in each of Austria’s last five games.

At the moment, they are currently on a seven-game unbeaten run with only one of them being a draw against Switzerland. Their other scalps include Serbia, Turkey, Slovakia and most notably Germany back in November.

This has been mostly done without captain David Alaba having been injured since December making it more impressive.

14. Hungary
Hungary is a team on the rise coming into the Euros.

After going undefeated in their qualifying group, they continued with wins against Turkey and Kosovo before a loss to Ireland which would break their 14-game unbeaten streak.

In their last game before the Euros against Israel with a 3-nil win.

Headlined by Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai, Hungary has drastically improved its squad in the three-year duration from their last Euros. From that 2020 squad, only four players were playing in Europe’s top five leagues.

Now in 2024, there are eight players with the likes of left-back Milos Kerkez and midfielder András Schäfer now playing for Bournemouth and Union Berlin helping provide more high-level experience to this side.

15. Serbia
For the first time in Serbia’s history, they will be participating in the Euros.

While in previous tournaments they have played as Serbia and Montenegro during the 1990s and early 2000s, this will be the first time they do so as a standalone country.

They have depths within the forwards positions with the likes of Dušan Vlahović and Aleksandar Mitrović capable of playing the No. 9 role with Sergej Milinković-Savić and Dušan Tadić helping supply chances from the midfield.

Managing wins against Cyprus and Sweden but were not able to defeat fellow Euro participant in Austria as well as losing to Russia 4-0.

Their best chance at progressing seems likely to be through being one of the best third-place finishes

16. Czech Republic
After a surprise quarter-final appearance in Euro 2020, the Czech Republic will hope that this type of performance can be the norm rather than the exception.

Led by Ivan Hašek, the Czechs come into the tournament with a very young squad. Only two players in the squad are over the age of 30.

In their last couple of rounds of friendlies, they have beaten Norway, Armenia, North Macedonia and Malta which should serve as confidence going into Group F.

One to watch for the Czech Republic is Patrik Schick. It was this time three years ago, that he would tie with Cristiano Ronaldo for top goal scorer for EURO 2020 (Ronaldo winning on a tiebreak) which included a goal from the halfway line against Scotland.

While he has not been able to hit the same heights within the national team since the tournament, he has played well for club side Bayer Leverkusen when fit scoring 13 goals this season.

17. Scotland
After going on a five-match unbeaten streak at the start of their qualifying group for the Euros, Scotland has not had the best run of form coming into the tournament.

They have only won one game since their qualifiers which was against Gibraltar after suffering losses to the Netherlands and Northern Ireland alongside a draw with Finland.

Scotland does have the potential to be able to get into the knockouts for the first time as shown by their qualifying record but will face stiff competition.

Scott McTominay will be the key to Scotland’s success in the tournament. During that five-game win streak, McTominay was formidable scoring seven out of his eight international goals throughout that run.

If he can replicate that form, then that will go a long way to the Tartan Army’s knockout chances.

18. Poland
Getting their place through the playoffs after beating Wales on penalties, Poland has had to go the long way to get here.

In a tough position in Group D competing against France, the Netherlands and Austria, they are not the favourites to progress out.

It does appear likely that star Robert Lewandowski will miss the first match against the Netherlands and remains unclear if he will miss any further matches beyond that.

Without him, it makes their chances a lot harder although not impossible.

Lewandowski only played 33 minutes over the last two friendlies but yet Poland was able to win against the Ukraine and Turkey showing they can find a way without their star player.

19. Slovenia
Slovenia have been in form coming into this tournament and it might see them win their first match in a European Championship and get a knockout spot for the first time in history.

Wins against two top-12 ranked sides in Portugal and the USA would certainly be given a boost of confidence. But coupled with draws against Malta and Bulgaria would bring them back to earth.

While the most notable name on this team is Atletico Madrid keeper Jan Oblak, most of the focus on Slovenia will be on 21-year-old Benjamin Šeško.

In his debut season at RB Leipzig, Šeško managed to score 18 goals and could be a contender for the Young Player of the Tournament if Slovenia can play well.

20. Turkey
After a rather disappointing Euro 2020 for Turkey, this time Turkey will hope to do far better this time around.

Although recent form suggests that it might be a similar occurrence. Whilst able to obtain a nil-all draw against Italy, they would see losses to Hungary, and Poland and a 6-1 demolition by Austria.

While mainly reliant on captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu and striker Cenk Tosun for attacking opportunities with half of the squad goals on an international level coming from those two, there are others to watch out for such 19-year-old midfielder/forward Arda Guler making an impact on the team’s chances.

21. Slovakia
Slovakia have had a mixed run of form coming into the tournament. In their most recent international window, they beat Wales and San Marino 4-nil.

But in the international window before, they could only draw with Norway and suffered a 2-nil loss to Austria.

With the mainstay and captain of this Slovakia side Marek Hamšík since retiring from football last year after 16 years and 138 caps for Slovakia, it has seen a new transition for them as a team to be without his midfield process and leadership.

Now it is Milan Škriniar who is currently playing for PSG and who captains the team from the defence who will hope to have a similar impact and get Slovakia to the knockout stage for the second time in their history.

22. Romania
Managing to beat out Switzerland to top their qualifying group for the Euros, Romania hasn’t quite been able to maintain that level of form into the European Championships.

Since their qualification in November, they have had a 1-1 draw to Northern Ireland, nil-nil draws to both Bulgaria and Lichtenstein and a 3-2 loss to Colombia.

The key to their success and likelihood of being able to make the knockouts for the first time since 2000 will likely be based on their defence.

Romania managed six clean sheets which were the second best in qualifiers with their first-choice goalkeeper in Horatiu Moldovan managing to get five of those during qualifying as well as only conceding four goals throughout.

23. Albania
Being drawn in what is widely considered to be the Group of Death in Group B for this tournament would make it hard for any team to make it to the knockouts let alone Albania.

After doing well to top their qualifying group for the Euros which included the Czech Republic and Poland, they have struggled for form since.

Draws to Moldova and Faroe Islands to end their qualifying campaign as well as losses to Chile and Sweden have taken some muster out.

They have had a slight recovery in their last international window with wins against Lichtenstein and Azerbaijan, but it does not look promising for a first-time trip to the knockouts.

24. Georgia
Georgia will make their debut at this year’s Euros. Their route to getting here was through the playoffs defeating Luxembourg and Greece.

The most notable name within the team is Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. He’s currently averaging a goal every two games for Georgia.

He would also finish equal third for total attempts on goal during the Euros qualifiers with 32 being the focal point of their attack.

If Georgia is to find a way out of Group F, then it will likely be off the back of his performances.

They have only played one game since the playoffs. This would be a comfortable 3-1 win against Montenegro.