Ivan Larsen 
The European Football Championship is a special continental tournament, because it is watched by fans from all continents. It’s not surprising, because the Euro is a kind of stripped-down World Cup: Brazil and Argentina are missing, but the rest of the top teams are there. If you like sports betting, go to sports betting in Bangladesh. If you want to make a long-term forecast, but are not ready to determine the final winner, predict who will win the group.
Quartet B is one of the strongest and most interesting, and we will consider it. As a guide, we give bookmaker odds for first place in the group for each team.
Spain – 1.75
At the beginning of the last decade, few doubted that Spain had the strongest team in the world. Since then, the team has not lost its status as a giant, but has ceased to be the main contender for titles – at Euro 2024 it shares fourth or fifth place in the list of the most likely winners. In addition to the World Cup, the Pyrenees won the Euro three times, but that is history, and the new generation is good, but not stunning.
The Spaniards qualified for the continental forum almost without misfires, with the exception of an away loss to Scotland; however, there were no serious rivals in the group, so this was not an achievement. In the last freight trains, the opponents were stronger, and this was immediately reflected in the results: Colombia outplayed the Spaniards, and Brazil managed to escape defeat at the last moment and salvage a draw.
However, it will be difficult for Spain to win the quartet, not even because they themselves are not sinless, but due to an unsuccessful draw. If you discard Albania, you get a group of death – the Italians and Croats will not let anyone down. Even teams that take third place (four out of six) will make it to the playoffs, but it’s better not to fall below second. Bookmakers, however, have no doubt that the Pyrenees will be â…› – they give odds of 1.07 for this, while for the Spaniards to be eliminated at the end of the group stage – 7.5.
Italy – 3.5
The Italian national team is one of the most titled teams on the planet: She won the World Cup four times, and the Euro twice more, taking two sets of silver medals and one set of bronze medals at the same tournaments. For a second, this is the champion who will defend his title. But at the same time, Squadra Azzurra has not been considered irresistible for a long time – she never made it to the last two world championships, and before that she did not leave the group in two more draws.
The Italians qualified for the Euro with uncertainty – in the last round they were very close to not getting a direct ticket, but going to the playoffs of the League of Nations. In a head-to-head meeting with the Ukrainians, the latter lacked one goal scored – and the teams would have swapped places. In the last ten matches, Italy have not lost to weak opponents (only Spain and England), but the draws against North Macedonia and Ukraine, when everything hung in the balance, are alarming.
As a result, Italy is only the sixth contender for the continental title, and even the bookmakers do not have much faith in its first place in the quartet. But with almost three places in the playoffs, it is unlikely that the Italians will be eliminated after the group stage: the odds are 1.11 that they will make it to the top 10, and 5.8 that they will not succeed.
Croatia – 5.2
The Croats are a perfect example of how a small country doesn’t have to be an underdog in football. Croatia has a small population, but the land is rich in football talent. Since the state gained independence, and in the mid-90s, its national team began to play in qualifications. The checkered team missed out on only one continental and world forum, but took silver and two bronze medals at the world championships. For some reason, the Euro is more difficult: there are only two quarterfinals so far.
In qualifying, the Croats were four points ahead of Wales, but they themselves were one point behind Turkey, which had not shown such a meaningful game for a long time. In the last ten matches they lost only to these two (once each) and to Spain in the freight train, but in the remaining games they succeeded – in addition to weak opponents, they also suffered from the Netherlands.
The Croatian national team is impressive in how often it produces super-talented generations, but it cannot maintain a consistently high level when it comes to competing for medals. Given the presence of two recognized giants at once, even if they are not in optimal shape, Croatia’s claims to first place in the group seem too self-confident. But the Balkans are obliged to reach the playoffs, at least from third position – they give a coefficient of 1.29 for this, with 3.4 for failure.
Albania – 26
Albanians have never played at a World Championship in history, and only once (in 2016) competed at a continental forum. There they got their first victory, gaining 3 points, which is not bad for a debutant, but now it is unlikely that they will be able to repeat the success – they were frankly unlucky with the group.
This is despite the fact that Albania gave its fans a holiday in qualifying – they won a difficult group with the Czech Republic and Poland. In the last ten matches, the team lost only to freight trains – Chile and Sweden. There were, however, unnecessary draws, like with the Faroe Islands and Moldova, but there the Albanians already understood that they would still go to the Euro. It was worth trying for the draw to be so disappointing!
It is difficult to expect any success from Albania – it is highly likely to take last place and be relegated. The odds on its passage to the playoffs are set at 3.7, although the bet on not passing is not super obvious – 1.25.
Conclusion
We cut off Albania right away – maybe they will take advantage of someone else’s misfire and make it to the playoffs, but they certainly won’t win the group. Among the other three, each team could theoretically be the leader of the quartet – it all depends on the mood. It is noteworthy that last summer the Spaniards played in the final round of the League of Nations with both the Italians and the Croats – they simply outplayed the former, and put the finishing touches on the latter in a penalty shootout. For this reason alone, we will give preference to Spain.
