Now that Euro 2024 is complete and Spain have been crowned champions after a 2–1 victory over England in Berlin, it’s time to revisit our original predictions and see how they held up against the reality of a dramatic summer of football. As always, some calls landed nicely, others drifted well wide of the post, and a few were undone by the pure unpredictability that makes tournament football so addictive.

How Our Big Predictions Stood Up

Winners: We Predicted Portugal

Actual Outcome: Spain

In our original preview, we backed Portugal to win the tournament, imagining a balanced squad capable of delivering a storybook ending to Cristiano Ronaldo’s European career. Unfortunately for us, and for Portugal, that didn’t materialise. Spain, not Portugal, proved to be the standout force. They won every match, blending youthful flair with superb efficiency to capture their fourth European Championship title.

Verdict: A respectable idea in theory, but far from the truth. Spain were the deserving champions, and our prediction missed the mark.

Finalists: We Predicted England

Actual Outcome: England

This was one of our clearest successes. We believed England would make a deep run and reach the latter stages, and they did exactly that, navigating a tricky path to the final. Once there, they fought bravely but were undone by Spain in Berlin. It was a familiar feeling of “so near yet so far” for English supporters.

Verdict: A correct call. England made the final, even if the ending wasn’t quite what we forecast.

Other Predictions: Hits, Misses and Maybes

Top Scorer and Best Player Predictions

We tipped Harry Kane to finish as the tournament’s top scorer, but that prediction didn’t come off. While Kane contributed important goals, he wasn’t the standout striker of the competition. We also predicted Bernardo Silva to win Player of the Tournament, which proved wide of the mark, given Portugal’s earlier-than-expected exit.

Verdict: These were optimistic selections rather than accurate ones.

Overachievers and Underachievers

Our expectations for surprise packages and disappointing sides were a mixed bag. Some teams we expected to shine never quite sparked into life, while others exceeded all forecasts and added the usual unpredictability and drama that every European Championship seems to produce.

Verdict: Mixed results, which is entirely fitting for this category.

Final Thoughts

Looking back, our predictions land somewhere between insightful and idealistic. We correctly anticipated England’s strong run to the final, but we were off the mark with our champions, our star-player selections and some of our bolder outside picks. Spain’s brilliance throughout the tournament made many analysts reassess their expectations, and we were no exception.