Group A

Group A contained one of the tournaments most impressive and dominant sides, in the form of Italy, who ploughed through their 3 group games, winning all 3 and not conceding a single goal. This secured them the 1st place spot with ease, and has many pundits and predictors wondering just how far Mancini can take his side in the competition. On the opening day of the tournament, they meant business from the outset, as their national anthem in front of the Stadio Olimpico crowd. They went on to win 3-0. 3-0 and 1-0 in what was 3 home games thanks to the draw. A real marker has been set by the Italian side, and we will have to wait and see how they manage without the passionate crowd spurring them on. In 2nd we have Wales, a team that had a real mixed bag of a group, but ultimately successful as they qualify from the challenging group. With 1 win over Turkey, a draw against Switzerland and a loss over Italy, they did just about enough to edge in front of the Swiss to ensure they haven’t had to worry about the 3rd place qualification after edging 2nd on goal difference. Their talismanic striker Bale has been on-form thus far and really shown leadership and the side have shown strong togetherness and determination, with Kiefer Moore ending most games bandaged up and showing how they are leaving it all on the line. In 3rd, and still likely qualifiers, are Switzerland, who had the exact same outcome as Wales in their matches. They suffered a heavier loss over Italy, which put them into 3rd on goal difference as they couldn’t make up the difference on the final game over Turkey despite winning 3-1. They’ve performed about as well as can be expected, and they are still an unknown over how far they can go, and depending on the draw might just settle into the tournament in the knockout stages. Down in 4th, we have a real disappointment, in Turkey who despite being tipped for greatness by plenty, couldn’t win a single game, and only scored once in the 3-1 loss. They conceded 8 goals and really were rolled over by the other 3 sides, and never got going in the tournament. Perhaps the expectation got to them, or maybe they were just poor.

Group B

Just like in group A, Belgium ran riot on the rest of the group, winning all 3 games, scoring 7 and conceding 1 and their main man Lukaku was truly dominant. They won comfortably on the first game, beating Russia 3-0, before edging past a tough Denmark opposition 2-1 and then seeing the group home with a 2-0 win over Finland. It was expected for Belgium to top the group, and they delivered with what was expected. In 2nd, we had the most remarkable of all qualifiers, Denmark overcame the truly shocking and devastating collapse of Christian Eriksen in their first game, and while this shook the footballing world, Denmark showed real grit, determination and skill to beat Russia in the final group game, meaning that despite losing their first 2 games, the 4-1 win secured 2nd place and guaranteed qualification. In 3rd, Finland wait patiently on the results elsewhere, after their win over Denmark in that dramatic fixture gave them the 3rd place finish in the group. Russia had to settle for 4th on goal difference, again despite finishing on the same number of points as those above them, the 4-1 loss to Denmark and 3-0 loss to Belgium put their goal difference rock bottom, which is where they finish. This group has shown to be one of the tightest from 2nd-4th, with the games truly going down to the wire.

Group C

Group C had yet another dominant side steam rolling their way through, with Netherlands this time being the unbeaten team, winning all 3, scoring 8 and conceding 2. Many had written off the Dutch side prior to the tournament starting, however Austria, Ukraine and North Macedonia couldn’t capitalise on this expectation and thus the Netherlands comfortably make their way through to the knockout rounds. In 2nd, Austria managed 2 wins over Ukraine and North Macedonia, ensuring comfortable passage to the next phase of the tournament. In 3rd, the Ukraine are also waiting patiently for other results, after their win over North Macedonia earnt them 3 points which may just be enough dependant on other groups. It was North Macedonia who managed to enjoy their time in their first major tournament, and despite losing all 3 games, they scored twice, with legendary striker Pandev netting just 23 minutes into their first game. From there, they couldn’t quite grab a point but I’m sure will look back fondly at their performances in which they held their own for large portions.