Our Euro 2024 Betting Guide – What You Need to Know

Posted by Harry Kane on Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Euro 2024 is now less than three months away, with 24 teams set to compete in the 17th iteration of Europe’s premier international football competition. Nations are close to finalising their 23-man squads too, with the upcoming international break set to play a key role in the selection process.

Several teams are in contention to win this competition, while we’ve also seen unfancied underdogs prevail in the Euros before (think of Greece in 2004). But what are the latest odds and most popular betting markets ahead of Euro 2024? Here’s our comprehensive betting guide.

When (and Where) Will the 2024 European Championships Take Place?

The 2024 European Championships will kick off in Germany on June 14th and will run for one month before the final in Berlin’s Olympiastadion on July 14th. Here, one of the 24 competing teams will be crowned as the tournament winner, with England, France and hosts Germany the current favourites to prevail (we’ll touch more on this later).

Germany was awarded hosting duties back on September 27th, 2018, following a ceremony in Nyon, Switzerland. Interestingly, the country had initially planned to fully host Euro 2020 but didn’t reveal this officially until May 2012 (this tournament was subsequently co-hosted by several European nations). It then beat off Turkey to become the 2024 hosts.

Who are the Favourites to Win in 2024?

As usual ahead of a high profile and competitive tournament of this type, there’s no clear or overwhelming favourite. In fact, several nations are evenly priced and fancied to do well, including the host country Germany. Below, you’ll find a summary of the latest odds and a closer look at the three most heavily backed teams!

#1. England

England are the narrow favourites to win the 2024 Euros at the time of writing, even ahead of 2022 World Cup finalists France and host nation Germany (we’ll have more on these sides below). There’s good reason for this too: with the Three Lions having finished as runners up in the 2020 iteration of the European Championships and only narrowly losing to Italy on a penalty shootout.

England also boasts an incredibly talented pool of players, especially in the attacking and wide midfielder positions. Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham are currently two of the best central midfielders in the world, for example, while James Maddison and Phil Foden offer tremendous creativity and penetration in between the lines.

In the wide areas, manager Gareth Southgate can call on a similar embarrassment of riches, including Marcus Rashford, Cole Palmer, Jack Grealish, Anthony Gordon and the superb Bukayo Saka. They also have Harry Kane to lead the line, with the prolific Bayern striker having now scored a record 62 goals in just 89 appearances for his country.

However, there are concerns over the defensive line, as stalwart centre back Harry Maguire lacks pace and continues to struggle for game time with Manchester United. John Stones is now more commonly deployed as an inverted full back or midfielder at Man City, while Jarrad Branthwaite, Lewi Dunk and Ezri Konsa lack experience at international level.

There are also concerns over Southgate himself. A naturally cautious manager, he hasn’t showcased genuine tactical innovation since deploying a fluid 3-1-4-2 formation at the 2018 World Cup. His in-game management and substitutions have also seen England lose momentum in both the Euro 2020 final and the 2022 World Cup defeat against France in the last eight, and he struggles to seize or sustain the initiative during matches.

#2. France

France have been the single most consistent team in recent international tournaments, reaching three finals and winning one major title since 2016. They were runners-up at both Euro 2016 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, while they lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy in Russia in 2018.

In Kylian Mbappe, they also boast a genuine superstar and generational talent. Madrid-bound after a stellar career at PSG (which has seen him score 250 goals in just 297 appearances for the French champions), Mbappe has also struck 46 times in just 75 international caps, while he’s now his country’s third highest scorer of all-time.

Mbappe has also scored 12 goals in 18 major finals appearances for France. While all of these have come during the World Cup (he failed to score in all four Euros’ appearances in the 2020 tournament), he remains the ultimate big-game player and even bagged a hattrick in the World Cup final defeat to Argentina in December 2022.

France also boasts a strong and high-quality squad of players, which include Real Madrid stars Aurélien Tchouaméni and Eduardo Camavinga. The talismanic Antoine Griezmann, who starred in a deeper role for Les Bleus in the 2022 World Cup and has scored 44 goals in 127 caps, will also appear in Germany, as will Premier League stars William Saliba (Arsenal), Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool) and Moussa Diaby (Aston Villa).

In coach Didier Deschamps, France also boasts one of the most experienced and successful international coaches of all time. He first took charge of France in July 2012, presiding over 149 matches and winning 97 at a win-rate of 65.10%. He’s tasted defeat just 23 times in 12 years as Les Bleus head coach and is the best man to take charge of any major tournament campaign.

#3. Germany

Germany are priced at around 6/1 to win the 2024 Euros, despite their recent indifferent form and managerial upheaval. Since the sacking of Hansi Flick and appointment of former RB Leipzig and Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann on September 22nd, 2023, Germany have won just one of four matches and struggled to find a settled system or identity.

This sequence has included a defeat against Ralf Rangnick’s Austria in November, while Germany also lost to Turkey in Berlin’s Olympiastadion during the same month. Nagelsmann is now winless in three matches as head coach after beating USA in his first game, with the manager struggling to impose his ideas on his charges.

The good news is that Germany retains an outstanding squad of players, including Joshua Kimmich, captain İlkay Gündoğan, Florian Wirtz, Kai Havertz and the generational talent of Jamal Musiala. Young striker Maximillian Beier is also expected to make the cut for Euro 2024, with this uncapped forward highly promising and currently being courted by clubs such as Liverpool.

Overall, there’s arguably questionable value in backing Germany to win the tournament at their current price, which is heavily influenced by the nation’s status as hosts. However, it should be noted that the host country has failed to win the Euros in nine iterations since France prevailed in 1984, which helps to cast Germany’s current odds in even greater context.

What are the Best Euro Football Betting Markets?

You can access a huge range of betting markets when wagering on the 2024 European Championship. Of course, some of these are considerably more popular than others, while increased betting volumes are likely to be driven by the high profile of the tournament and extensive broadcasting across the globe. Here’s our take on the most popular betting markets!

• – Outright Winner: This is the single most popular Euro betting market. This requires you to pick the eventual winner of the tournament, with early betting often unlocking more competitive prices when backing favourites. If you want to pick teams that are statistically less likely to win, we’d recommend holding fire and prices may well drift as the tournament draws closer.
• – Group Winner: The 24 competing teams at the Euros are initially split into six pools of four during the group stage. So, you can pick teams win each group, whether you back short price favourites with increased unit bets or pick the winners of more competitive groups at naturally higher odds.
• – Match Betting: Euro 2024 will feature a total of 51 games across both group and knockout stages. This creates ample opportunity for match betting, which also unlocks popular markets such as match winner, BTTS and the over/under on how many goals will be scored in a particular game. These markets enable you to creative value when backing short price favourites.
• – To Reach the Final: You can also pick one or more teams to reach the final of Euro 2024. This market is priced similar to the outright winner, but the structured and seeded nature of the draw means that you plot each nation’s potential path to the final. This also makes it easier to identify teams that have a potentially easier route to the showpiece final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
• – Top Goalscorer: This is another competitively priced market, with the aforementioned strike pair of Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane among the pre-tournament favourites. This market always offers good value to the number of contenders in-play, but you should give additional weight and priority to players who represents nations that are likely to progress deep into the tournament.

The Last Word – Our Euro 2024 Betting Tips

No guide of this type would be complete without offering some of our expert betting tips and insights. After all, attempting to pick the winner of a tournament like the Euros can be incredibly challenging, so we’ve provided some ideas to help you make the most of your starting bankroll!

Pick Two or More Outright Winners

You can really optimise value by successfully picking the tournament winner. Rather than backing just one team to win, however, we’ recommend establishing a total bankroll for outright wagering before distributing this across several potential winners.

Of course, the key is to cover as many potential outcomes as possible while also ensuring that you bank a return if one of your picks is successful. For example, let’s say that you want to stake £10 on the outright winner, and your analysis highlights England, France and Portugal as the most likely and best value winners. In this case, you could distribute your total stake as follows:

• – Back England to win at 3/1 with a £4.50 stake – Potential return £18.00
• – Back France to win at 4/1 with a £3.50 stake – Potential return of £17.50
• – Back Portugal to win at 8/1 with a £2 stake – Potential return of £18.00

As you can see, each of these bets deliver a total payout well in excess of your stake £10 (inclusive of your initial bet). So, you’re guaranteed a return if either of your selections win the tournament. At the same time, the odds imply respective probabilities of 25%, 20% and 11.11% of England, France and Portugal winning, so this strategy will also afford you excellent market coverage.

Use Handicap Betting During the Group Stages

As usual, the six Euro 2024 groups will feature a variety of matchups, including some genuinely heavyweight clashes and mismatches. Groups B and D are particularly tough and difficult to call, for example, while the former also produces the seemingly one-sided contest between Spain and Albania.

Shock results can always occur, of course, but such matchups afford you an opportunity to create value by backing short price favourites at significantly enhanced odds. For example, you could back favourites England to defeat Serbia outright at the unforgiving price of 8/13. However, applying a –1.0 goal handicap to the Three Lions instantly unlocks superior odds of 8/5, meaning they’ll have to win by two clear goals for the wager to be successful.

The key here is to set an informed and measured handicap on selected games, using analysis of any relevant form, team and injury news and the circumstances surrounding each match. Restrict this to the group stages where possible too, as matches become typically tighter once the tournament reaches the knockout phase.

Construct Combination Bets During Individual Euro Matches

On a similar note, combination bets can also offer significant and enhanced value when backing heavy favourites or targeting competitively priced matches. For example, if you want to back Spain to beat Albania but are put off by the prohibitive odds, you could combine this moneyline with either both teams to score (or not) or the over/under on how many goals will be scored in the game.

This obviously unlocks enhanced value, but unlike handicap betting, it can be used flexibly and at different stages of the competition. This is because you can combine different markets in a single wager and inform your selections using detailed team and game analysis, including head-to-head records (where applicable), scoring records and the tactical setup of each side.

The best thing about combination betting is that it allows you to pursue increased returns without hiking your original stake. You can use analysis and insight to maximise the likelihood of your bet being successful, so this is highly recommended if you’re a knowledgeable bettor with a decent appetite for risk.