Euro 2024’s novel group system, depending on who you ask, adds drama or unwanted complexity. Regardless, to best enjoy the tournament or take advantage of the Euro 2024 fantasy football contest, it’s important to know what to expect from teams.
Today, I’m previewing Group A, one made up of the tournament hosts, Germany, and three of the teams that could pull up some of the biggest upsets.
We’ll be looking at the predicted starting lineups, the matches, and at what I’m banking on will happen in Euro 2024 fantasy football.
Euro 2024 Fantasy Football – Group A
Germany
Scotland
Hungary
Switzerland
Germany
Preview
It’s always good news for sports fans traveling abroad when Germany organizes a tournament. But it’s usually bad news for non-German fans.
Sure, Germany is the most successful European footballing nation. They’ve won four World Cups and three European titles. But they’ve been rather disappointing for years running. And many of the players who were disappointed last time around are still here.
Still, Germany has reached, at least, the semifinals every time they’ve hosted a tournament. The bookies have them among the teams favored to win.
They also have a few exciting young players, chief of whom are Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala. They are two of the players already eyed for the Young Player of the Tournament award.
And, perhaps, the biggest story of this Julian Nagelsmann’s coached side is the fact that these will be Toni Kroos’ final football games. This has Zidane 2006 vibes all over it, right?
Predicted Line-up
Neuer
Kimmich Tah Rudiger Mittelstädt Andrich Kroos
Musiala Gundogan Wirtz
Havertz
Fantasy football prediction
When it comes to passing, Germany has a few modern masters here and a couple of young apprentices. Kroos, Gundogan, and Wirtz can be considered for the midfield line in any game they play.
With Kimmich playing as a defender, he’ll still contribute to attacks. Defenders’ goals and assists bring points that should not be wasted.
Kai Havertz’s form in front of goal has oscilated and so has Niclas Fullkrug’s. Better stay away until further evidence is given.
However, Manuel Neuer can still be depended on to keep clean sheets. Could he do it in all three group games? It’s not out of the question.
Euro 2024 squad
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona), Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim)
Defenders: Waldemar Anton (Stuttgart), Benjamin Henrichs (Leipzig), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstädt (Stuttgart), David Raum (Leipzig), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)
Midfielders: Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Chris Führich (Stuttgart), Pascal Groß (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ilkay Gündogan (Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sané (Bayern Munich), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Forwards: Maximilian Beier (Hoffenheim), Niclas Füllkrug (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart)
Scotland
Preview
Scotland hasn’t been to a tournament of this magnitude since Euro 1996. They nearly got out of the group then. And while few non-Scots are eyeing them for success, this squad brings to mind the 1996 iteration of the team.
Steve Clarke has built a tightly knit team primarily of current and former Premier League players.
Despite names like Scott McTominay, John McGinn, or Che Adams being familiar to most football fans, Clarke hasn’t allowed any individual player to steal the spotlight away.
How well will Scotland do? Second place is clearly up for grabs in Group A. Scotland does the simple things well. And, while recent defeats to France and England suggest they’ll lose their opening game against Germany, they could make up for that against Switzerland and Hungary.
Predicted Line-up
Gunn
Porteous Hendry Tierney
Ralston McGregor Gilmour Robertson
McGinn McTominay
Che Adams
Fantasy football prediction
McTominay is nearly always dependable and usually undervalued. He scored seven goals in the qualifying stages.
Against opposition of similar caliber, Scotland enjoyed good possession. McGinn and Gilmour could be other options worth considering.
Tierney is also developing into a team leader and may be useful when you’re looking for an attacking wing-back.
Still, it’ll be hard to pick these players ahead of more established names before seeing their first game against Germany.
Euro 2024 squad
Goalkeepers: Zander Clark (Hearts), Angus Gunn (Norwich City), Liam Kelly (Motherwell)
Defenders: Liam Cooper (Leeds United), Grant Hanley (Norwich), Jack Hendry (Al Ettifaq), Ross McCrorie (Bristol City), Scott McKenna (FC Copenhagen), Ryan Porteous (Watford), Anthony Ralston (Celtic), Andy Robertson (Liverpool), Greg Taylor (Celtic), Kieran Tierney (Real Sociedad)
Midfielders: Stuart Armstrong (Southampton), Ryan Christie (AFC Bournemouth), Billy Gilmour (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ryan Jack (Rangers), Kenny McLean (Norwich), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Callum McGregor (Celtic), Scott McTominay (Manchester United)
Forwards: Ché Adams (Southampton), Tommy Conway (Bristol City), James Forrest (Celtic), Lewis Morgan (New York), Lawrence Shankland (Hearts)
Hungary
Preview
Hungary has been waiting for this tournament for a long time. Frankly, they’re itching to be Euro 2024’s revelation. Recent results and the morale suggest they could do just that.
What makes Hungary optimistic? Three great things have happened to Hungary in recent years: they’ve qualified for three Euros in a row, they’ve beaten England 4-0 at Wembley, and they have Dominik Szoboszslai.
What is the most realistic opinion? While Hungary has beaten England and Germany in the last year alone, most of the squad is made up of aging players signed to mid-tier Bundesliga teams. There is a feeling that this will catch up to them.
Still, if you go by recent results, if there’s one team set up to blow apart expectations, it’s Hungary.
Predicted Line-up
Gulacsi
Orban Lang Szalai
Nego Nagy Styles Kerkez
Szoboszlai Sallai
Varga
Fantasy football prediction
Dominik Szoboszlai has been sensational on international duty. He’s only 23-years-old. Euro 2024 could be the opportunity to truly announce himself as one of the best players on the continent.
If you’re looking for a few additional, inexpensive players for your fantasy football team, Hungary may be an option for the group stages. Willi Orban, Adam Lang, or goalie Peter Gulacsi already have plenty of international experience.
These games could go either way. But, you may want some Hungarian players on your team when they play Scotland and, especially, Switzerland.
Euro 2024 squad
Goalkeepers: Denes Dibusz (Ferencváros), Péter Gulácsi (Leipzig), Péter Szappanos (Paksi SE)
Defenders: Botond Balogh (Parma), Endre Botka (Ferencváros), Márton Dárdai (Hertha Berlin), Attila Fiola (Fehervar), Adam Lang (Omonia Nicosia), Willi Orbán (Leipzig), Attila Szalai (Freiburg), Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth), Bendeguz Bolla (Servette), Zsolt Nagy (Puskas Akademia)
Midfielders: Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool), Mihaly Kata (MTK Budapest), Laszlo Kleinheisler (Hajduk ), Adam Nagy (Spezia), Loïc Négo (Le Havre AC), András Schäfer (Union Berlin), Callum Styles (Sunderland)
Forwards: Kevin Csoboth (Ujpesti), Dániel Gazdag (Philadelphia Union), Krisztofer Horvath (Kecskemet TE), Roland Sallai (Freiburg), Barnabas Varga (Ferencváros), Martin Ádám (Ulsan Hyundai)
Switzerland
Preview
For a good decade, for football fans and FIFA gamers, Switzerland was Belgium-lite, an improbably strong European team whose strength seemed to spring out of nowhere.
But like Belgium, that group of players has nearly hung up the boots or overstayed their welcome.
Switzerland has struggled to qualify for Euro 2024, losing their group to Romania. And where once the national team could call upon some of the most exciting players in the top leagues, it’s not quite the case anymore.
However, this may be one of the last tournaments for players like Xherdan Shaqiri, Remo Freuler, or Granit Xhaka. Switzerland has often underachieved all things considered. They may well have something to prove now!
Predicted Line-up
Sommer
Schar Akanji Elvedi
Widmer Xhaka Freuler Rodriguez
Shaqiri
Vargas Amdouni
Fantasy football prediction
Switzerland still has many quality, well-known players. Many, however, are outside their prime. And the ones who do not seem as interested in putting in as good performances as they do at club level.
It’s hard to argue against picking Manuel Akanji, Xherdan Shaqiri, or Granit Xhaka. But, frankly, they’re expensive, and better options should be available.
Unless they surprise us with a strong first performance against Hungary, I would only bother as a last resort.
Euro 2024 squad
Goalkeepers: Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund), Yvon Mvogo (Lorient), Yann Sommer (Internazionale)
Defenders: Manuel Akanji (Manchester City), Nico Elvedi (Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Rodriguez (Torino), Fabian Schär (Newcastle), Leonidas Stergiou (Stuttgart), Silvan Widmer (Mainz 05), Cédric Zesiger (Wolfsburg)
Midfielders: Remo Freuler (Bologna), Michel Aebischer (Bologna), Ardon Jashari (Luzern), Fabian Rieder (Rennes), Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire), Vincent Sierro (Toulouse), Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen), Denis Zakaria (AS Monaco)
Forwards: Breel Embolo (Monaco), Ruben Vargas (Augsburg), Noah Okafor (Milan), Dan Ndoye (Bologna), Zeki Amdouni (Burnley), Renato Steffen (Lugano), Steven Zuber (AEK Athens), Kwadwo Duah (Ludogorets)
In need of more predictions and previews for Euro 2024? Here are our guides for the other teams in the tournament:
Group F
