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France
T
he new age of
French football
has continued to emerge
since the 2014 World
Cup, with the likes of Paul
Pogba, Kingsley Coman,
Antoine Griezmann and
Anthony Martial having an
increasing influence on the
nation’s footballing hopes.
To add to this, Leicester
City’s N’Golo Kante and
West Ham’s Dmitri Payet
go into the tournament
on the back of extremely
successful seasons, giving
the hosts a big opportunity
to win the tournament for
the first time in 16 years.
8
Spain
A
s reigning
champions, Spain
were always going to have
a good case to become
champions for the third
consecutive tournament.
The World Cup in Brazil
was a stark reminder
than Spain are far from
unstoppable, having been
eliminated in the group
stages, but they looked to
be finding themselves once
more during qualifying.
Many of their former
world-beaters may have
retired, but there is a new
breed of young talent,
especially in midfield,
thanks to La Liga’s
abundance of youth. You
can expect to see Koke,
Isco, Thiago, Paco Alcacer
and Morata all on the plane
to France this summer.
Germany
I
t would be foolish to
discount the current
World Champions from
the list of tournament
favourites, but it’s not all
champagne and roses for
Die Mannschaft. Captain
Philipp Lahm has retired,
along with all-time leading
World Cup scorer Miroslav
Klose and international cap
centurion Per Mertesacker,
leaving the world’s best a
little light in defence and
attack. We’re likely to see a
fairly young Germany side,
with a number of players
that have yet to prove their
worth on the international
or European stage, but
with magicians like Mesut
Özil and Marco Reus, as
well as the intelligence of
Toni Kroos and Thomas
Müller, you can never rule
the Germans out.