Who Are The Outsiders For Euro 2020 Glory?

Football is full of surprises. Indeed, the unpredictability of the sport is why so many of us love it in the first place. Still, while surprise results happen from time to time, surprise trophy wins are rarer. Leeds United might beat Manchester City in a one-off game, but they’re not going to walk to the Premier League title.

The team that wins a major tournament will come from either the ‘favourites’ or ‘outsiders’ category. In this blog, we’re going to focus on the outsiders for the Euro 2020 Championship. It’ll be a small surprise if one of these teams win, but they also all have enough talent that could make them worth backing with a free bet offer. So who can we place in this camp? Spain, Italy, and Portugal all sit outside of the list of top favourites, which features England, France, Germany, and Belgium.

But this is football. Is there a chance that all four of those teams will fluff their lines and let one of the outsiders take the glory? Absolutely.

Spain

Let’s just say that Spain’s last major tournament didn’t go exactly to plan. They sacked their coach on the eve of the World Cup 2018 and managed to scrape through the group stage before being sent home by Russia. It was a brief but memorable and ultimately disastrous campaign for La Roja.

The good news is that after a World Cup like that, there’s really only one way to go. And for certain, Spain are in much better shape than they were in Russia three years ago. Managed by former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique, they’ve been building up some form, currently sitting top of their group for World Cup 2022 qualification.

It’s true that Spain are in a period of transition, however. The legends have largely been moved on, with a talented crop of youngsters taking their place. If they’re going to go far in the tournament, then they’ll need one of these young players to step up and make a name for themselves. At the moment, the most likely candidate will be Dani Olmo, a 21-year-old wunderkind who might just be the future of Spanish football.

Italy

Italy are another big football force that had a World Cup 2018 to forget, in large part because they weren’t there. They failed to qualify. Of course, following such a travesty for the country, changes were always going to be made across the board. And so they were.

And the changes have had a pretty big effect already. With the legends out and young players — and Italian master coach Roberto Mancini — in, things are looking a lot rosier for the Azzurri. There’s still plenty of experience in the side, though, which is what makes Italy a threat for the trophy. It’s wisdom and youthful exuberance put together, and that can create a pretty potent force.

You have a sense that if Italy are going to win this tournament, then they’ll need their midfield to do the business. In Marco Verratti and Nicolò Barella, they have a dynamic duo that can shift the ball from back to front in just enough time it takes to score goals. Ideal.

Portugal 

Current title-holders Portugal aren’t favourites, but they’re arguably most likely of the three countries mentioned on this page to lift the trophy. Part of their outsider status rests on the difficulty of winning back to back major championships.

Their main man is still Cristiano Ronaldo, of course. This will (likely) be his last European Championship, so he’ll be determined to make a mark on the tournament (though when is he not?). Individual players don’t win trophies, however — teams do. And Ronaldo has a pretty talented cast of supporting players, including wunderkind Joao Felix, who might just threaten to steal the show from Cristiano.

Then there’s Diogo Jota, Bruno Fernandes, Bernado Silva, and the rest. That’s a pretty handy squad that’ll cause fear in the other leading contenders.