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Analysis: Assessing all Eight EURO Quarter-Finalists

Analysis: Assessing all Eight EURO Quarter-Finalists

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After an enthralling group stage and snoozefest-riddled Round of 16, we are down to the last eight teams at EURO 2024. By this stage, everyone very much is in it to win it, so let us take a look at the strengths, weaknesses, and the chances of all the teams left standing.

By Neel Shelat

Spain

Whichever way you look at it, Spain have been the strongest team at the tournament so far.

They have won all four of their matches in a thoroughly convincing fashion, dispatching various styles of opponent. La Roja got off to a perfect start with a 3-0 win over Croatia and followed it up with a commanding performance in a 1-0 win over Italy where the scoreline was unflattering to them. Their B team beat Albania with the same score, after which a full-strength side came back from conceding their first goal of the tournament to put four past Georgia.

Having struggled with being too slow for many a year of late, they have suddenly become masters of controlling tempo under Luis de la Fuente. Their deadly wingers can skin any full-back, in transition or in settled possession, while their technically excellent midfielders can retain the ball and regulate the speed of play according to the game state. Their record includes the highest xG tally and joint-fewest goals conceded, so it is tough to envision any opponent stopping them at this point.

Germany

There were high hopes of Germany under Julian Nagelsmann going into their home Euros, and they have not disappointed so far.

The young tactician has devised a great system to get the best out of his most talented players, enabling Toni Kroos to dictate play as a deep-lying playmaker just as he did for Real Madrid by partnering him with Robert Andrich and figuring out a way to effectively play with three number tens in İlkay Gündoğan, Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz by using overlapping full-backs.

Nagelsmann’s in-game tactical tweaks could give Germany the edge as he showed by shoring up the defence with a mid-game switch to a back-five in the last round against Denmark, with the normal set-up from the Switzerland game shown above. He will need to get all his calls right to help his side get the better of the Spanish juggernaut in what promises to be a blockbuster quarter-final.

Portugal

Portugal were thoroughly dominant in their EURO qualifying campaign as they won all ten matches with a cumulative score of 36-2 in an admittedly straightforward group, but the tournament proper has proven a lot tougher. They needed a stoppage-time winner to get the better of Czechia and did follow that up with a strong performance against Türkiye, but then surprisingly lost to Georgia (albeit with a rotated side) and huffed and puffed in the Round of 16 tie against Slovenia which went all the way to penalties.

As many expected, Cristiano Ronaldo has been the chief talking point for them. His goal-scoring woes have gotten out of hand as he seemed to be trying far too hard against Slovenia, not only failing to score himself but also taking chances away from his teammates in what is a very exciting attacking line-up.

Diogo Costa’s shoot-out heroics spared the Al Nassr striker’s blushes in the Round of 16, but things will have to change in the significantly tougher ties that await Portugal.

France

“You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like” is probably Didier Deschamps’ motto in charge of France. His side set an unwanted record by becoming the first squad in EURO history to not have a single player with even one non-penalty goal after four matches, but the only thing that will matter to them is the fact that they are still in the tournament and remain unbeaten.

The reason behind their attacking struggles obviously is not a lack of talent – just look at the names in their front line – but their head coach’s incredibly risk-averse approach. The upside of it, though, is that Les Bleus have only conceded once in the tournament so far and have the best defence as far as xG is concerned.

While it may be painful to watch at times, such an approach certainly is a wise way to go about things as tournament favourites. As long as France keep the chances of conceding a freak goal as low as possible, they can trust at least one of their supremely talented attackers to come up with a match-deciding moment.

England

Much like their rivals from across the channel, England have really tested viewers’ love for the game with some unbelievably drab performances, but they have much bigger issues causing them.

On the whole, Gareth Southgate has done a very good job in charge of them by employing a pragmatic approach in big tournaments, but he looks shockingly out of ideas this time. Choosing the Euros to experiment with Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield seemed a bad idea doomed to fail from the start, but the bigger issue is his refusal to change his side’s left wing dynamics, which are currently non-existent by virtue of having an opposite-footed full-back and inside winger out there.

The Three Lions have defensive issues as well, but they do not show up in the numbers due to the quality of opposition they have faced so far. The biggest concern, though, has to be their almost total inability to create serious goal-scoring chances.

Despite these problems, England are in a fantastic position to lift the title simply because of how favourable the knockout bracket is. They will rarely get a better chance to bring it home, so this is an opportunity they cannot afford to let pass.

Switzerland

Murat Yakin has been on quite the journey in charge of Switzerland, leading them to the Round of 16 of the last World Cup and then these Euros. Their qualifying campaign was pretty turbulent this time, leading to almost an expectation of his dismissal before the tournament. However, he stayed on and completely turned things around to lead them to their best-ever campaign on the continental stage.

A high-intensity approach has been the key to his side’s success as their heavily player-oriented 3-4-3 high-press has unsettled the likes of Germany and Italy, though their balanced possession-play also deserves credit with Granit Xhaka dictating proceedings in midfield and the attackers linking up well enough to score at least once in every match so far.

Efficiency and clinicality have obviously been keys to their success as well, so the Swiss seem to have everything to be serious dark horses at this tournament.

Netherlands

The Netherlands’ group stage campaign was pretty disappointing as they needed a late Wout Weghorst winner to defeat Poland, were decidedly second-best in a goalless draw against France and finally lost to Austria to only scrape through in third place. They might just have saved their best for when it really matters, though, as their Round of 16 showing against Romania was by far their most impressive.

Ronald Koeman’s side did not start overly well but never looked back after Cody Gakpo’s opener. They created a great deal of chances both with settled possession and especially in transition, while their defence hardly broke a sweat and comfortably kept a clean sheet. Of course, this was all against one of the weaker teams in the knockouts, but they are on the easier side of the knockout bracket and could well avoid the big hitters until the final – as long as they manage to get that far.

Türkiye

Türkiye lost all three of their group games at the last Euros despite being the popular dark horse pick at the tournament, but it turns out those predictions were simply made three years ahead of schedule.

Led by a head coach who is not afraid to experiment in Vincenzo Montella and with one of the youngest squads at the tournament, they have been one of the most entertaining teams at EURO 2024. They comfortably got through their group with wins over Georgia and Czechia, although Montella’s changes in the second match against Portugal did not quite come off, setting up a Round of 16 tie with Austria.

That proved to be one of the games of the tournament, as Türkiye took down this edition’s favourite dark horses with two set-piece goals, a lot of deep defending, and some heroic goalkeeping.

Make no mistake, Türkiye were fortunate to get over the line in 90 minutes but they did show good flexibility both in the way they attacked and defended. As long as they get their game plans right, they can pose problems to any opponent given the talent in their side.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from Euro 2024 live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Analysis: Assessing all Eight EURO Quarter-Finalists

After an enthralling group stage and snoozefest-riddled Round of 16, we are down to the last eight teams at EURO 2024. By this stage, everyone very much is in it to win it, so let us take a look at the strengths, weaknesses, and the chances of all the teams left standing.

By Neel Shelat

Spain

Whichever way you look at it, Spain have been the strongest team at the tournament so far.

They have won all four of their matches in a thoroughly convincing fashion, dispatching various styles of opponent. La Roja got off to a perfect start with a 3-0 win over Croatia and followed it up with a commanding performance in a 1-0 win over Italy where the scoreline was unflattering to them. Their B team beat Albania with the same score, after which a full-strength side came back from conceding their first goal of the tournament to put four past Georgia.

Having struggled with being too slow for many a year of late, they have suddenly become masters of controlling tempo under Luis de la Fuente. Their deadly wingers can skin any full-back, in transition or in settled possession, while their technically excellent midfielders can retain the ball and regulate the speed of play according to the game state. Their record includes the highest xG tally and joint-fewest goals conceded, so it is tough to envision any opponent stopping them at this point.

Germany

There were high hopes of Germany under Julian Nagelsmann going into their home Euros, and they have not disappointed so far.

The young tactician has devised a great system to get the best out of his most talented players, enabling Toni Kroos to dictate play as a deep-lying playmaker just as he did for Real Madrid by partnering him with Robert Andrich and figuring out a way to effectively play with three number tens in İlkay Gündoğan, Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz by using overlapping full-backs.

Nagelsmann’s in-game tactical tweaks could give Germany the edge as he showed by shoring up the defence with a mid-game switch to a back-five in the last round against Denmark, with the normal set-up from the Switzerland game shown above. He will need to get all his calls right to help his side get the better of the Spanish juggernaut in what promises to be a blockbuster quarter-final.

Portugal

Portugal were thoroughly dominant in their EURO qualifying campaign as they won all ten matches with a cumulative score of 36-2 in an admittedly straightforward group, but the tournament proper has proven a lot tougher. They needed a stoppage-time winner to get the better of Czechia and did follow that up with a strong performance against Türkiye, but then surprisingly lost to Georgia (albeit with a rotated side) and huffed and puffed in the Round of 16 tie against Slovenia which went all the way to penalties.

As many expected, Cristiano Ronaldo has been the chief talking point for them. His goal-scoring woes have gotten out of hand as he seemed to be trying far too hard against Slovenia, not only failing to score himself but also taking chances away from his teammates in what is a very exciting attacking line-up.

Diogo Costa’s shoot-out heroics spared the Al Nassr striker’s blushes in the Round of 16, but things will have to change in the significantly tougher ties that await Portugal.

France

“You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like” is probably Didier Deschamps’ motto in charge of France. His side set an unwanted record by becoming the first squad in EURO history to not have a single player with even one non-penalty goal after four matches, but the only thing that will matter to them is the fact that they are still in the tournament and remain unbeaten.

The reason behind their attacking struggles obviously is not a lack of talent – just look at the names in their front line – but their head coach’s incredibly risk-averse approach. The upside of it, though, is that Les Bleus have only conceded once in the tournament so far and have the best defence as far as xG is concerned.

While it may be painful to watch at times, such an approach certainly is a wise way to go about things as tournament favourites. As long as France keep the chances of conceding a freak goal as low as possible, they can trust at least one of their supremely talented attackers to come up with a match-deciding moment.

England

Much like their rivals from across the channel, England have really tested viewers’ love for the game with some unbelievably drab performances, but they have much bigger issues causing them.

On the whole, Gareth Southgate has done a very good job in charge of them by employing a pragmatic approach in big tournaments, but he looks shockingly out of ideas this time. Choosing the Euros to experiment with Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield seemed a bad idea doomed to fail from the start, but the bigger issue is his refusal to change his side’s left wing dynamics, which are currently non-existent by virtue of having an opposite-footed full-back and inside winger out there.

The Three Lions have defensive issues as well, but they do not show up in the numbers due to the quality of opposition they have faced so far. The biggest concern, though, has to be their almost total inability to create serious goal-scoring chances.

Despite these problems, England are in a fantastic position to lift the title simply because of how favourable the knockout bracket is. They will rarely get a better chance to bring it home, so this is an opportunity they cannot afford to let pass.

Switzerland

Murat Yakin has been on quite the journey in charge of Switzerland, leading them to the Round of 16 of the last World Cup and then these Euros. Their qualifying campaign was pretty turbulent this time, leading to almost an expectation of his dismissal before the tournament. However, he stayed on and completely turned things around to lead them to their best-ever campaign on the continental stage.

A high-intensity approach has been the key to his side’s success as their heavily player-oriented 3-4-3 high-press has unsettled the likes of Germany and Italy, though their balanced possession-play also deserves credit with Granit Xhaka dictating proceedings in midfield and the attackers linking up well enough to score at least once in every match so far.

Efficiency and clinicality have obviously been keys to their success as well, so the Swiss seem to have everything to be serious dark horses at this tournament.

Netherlands

The Netherlands’ group stage campaign was pretty disappointing as they needed a late Wout Weghorst winner to defeat Poland, were decidedly second-best in a goalless draw against France and finally lost to Austria to only scrape through in third place. They might just have saved their best for when it really matters, though, as their Round of 16 showing against Romania was by far their most impressive.

Ronald Koeman’s side did not start overly well but never looked back after Cody Gakpo’s opener. They created a great deal of chances both with settled possession and especially in transition, while their defence hardly broke a sweat and comfortably kept a clean sheet. Of course, this was all against one of the weaker teams in the knockouts, but they are on the easier side of the knockout bracket and could well avoid the big hitters until the final – as long as they manage to get that far.

Türkiye

Türkiye lost all three of their group games at the last Euros despite being the popular dark horse pick at the tournament, but it turns out those predictions were simply made three years ahead of schedule.

Led by a head coach who is not afraid to experiment in Vincenzo Montella and with one of the youngest squads at the tournament, they have been one of the most entertaining teams at EURO 2024. They comfortably got through their group with wins over Georgia and Czechia, although Montella’s changes in the second match against Portugal did not quite come off, setting up a Round of 16 tie with Austria.

That proved to be one of the games of the tournament, as Türkiye took down this edition’s favourite dark horses with two set-piece goals, a lot of deep defending, and some heroic goalkeeping.

Make no mistake, Türkiye were fortunate to get over the line in 90 minutes but they did show good flexibility both in the way they attacked and defended. As long as they get their game plans right, they can pose problems to any opponent given the talent in their side.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from Euro 2024 live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.