On paper, this Euro 2024 Group E seems to be the most open. Even if Belgium, seeded in the draw, seems a cut above, the race for second or even third place seems extremely open between Ukraine, Slovakia and Romania. Countries, matches, calendar, favorites… Here is everything you need to know about Group E of Euro 2024.
Group E teams
On the side of the Belgium, this European Championship played in Germany will surely be one of the last chances for the “golden generation” of De Bruyne, Lukaku and Witsel to win a title. Now coached by Dominic Todesco, the Belgians will be keen to make up for it after the disillusionment of the 2022 World Cup and an elimination in the first round. There Romaniashe has not experienced the joys of participating in a World Cup since 1998 and had failed to qualify for Euro 2020. Lacking international competitions since 2016, the “Tricolor” (the Tricolores) finished at the top of their group during the qualifiers having conceded only five goals. Undefeated during the 2023 season (6 wins – 4 losses), Romania will have a say in this group, particularly against Slovakia, supposedly the weakest nation in the group. THE “Sokoli” (the Falcons) of Italian coach Francesco Calzona took second place in the qualifiers behind Portugal who inflicted on them the only two defeats during their journey. But you will still have to pay attention to the performance of theUkraine. If the 22nd nation in the Fifa ranking had to go through a play-off against Iceland (2-1) to win its ticket to Germany, Mykhaylo Mudryk’s gang (Chelsea) has serious assets (Andriy Lunin, Oleksandr Zinchenko ) to do at least as well as in 2020 by reaching the quarter-final stage against England (0-4).
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Group E schedule
Monday June 17
3 p.m.: Romania – Ukraine (at the Allianz Arena in Munich and live on bein Sports)
6 p.m.: Belgium – Slovakia (at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt and live on bein Sports)
Friday June 21
3 p.m.: Slovakia – Ukraine (at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf and live on bein Sports)
Saturday June 22
9 p.m.: Belgium-Romania (at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne and live on M6)
Wednesday June 26
6 p.m.: Slovakia – Romania (at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt and live on bein Sports)
6 p.m.: Ukraine – Belgium (at the MHPArena in Stuttgart and live on bein Sports)
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The favorite of group E
Unsurprisingly, Belgium is the big favorite of this group with odds of 1.45 among the bookmakers. The Belgians are well ahead of the chances of Ukraine (5.25), Romania (7) and Slovakia (10). As a reminder, you will have to finish in one of the first two places to ensure a place in the round of 16. The third in the group can always hope to see the next round by appearing among the 4 best thirds in the group stage.
FIND THE LIST OF EURO 2024 TEAMS
The three players to follow in this group E
The famous “golden generation” has long been in the spotlight without much success. But the next generation is already there for Belgium like the twirling Jeremy Doku. At 21, the young Red Devil has taken on a new dimension since his transfer from Stade Rennais to Manchester City for 60 million euros. With 43 matches on the clock (6 goals – 10 assists), Doku participated in the Cityzens’ fourth consecutive Premier League title.
He has been the revelation of La Liga this season. Artem Dovbyk, scorer for the surprising Girona team, third in the Spanish championship, will be present at the Euro in Ukrainian colors. With 24 goals in 36 league matches, the native of Cherkassy finished top scorer in La Liga. All that remains is for him to maintain this great dynamic with the selection with whom he already has 8 goals in 26 selections.
To face Doku and Dovbyk, Slovakia will count on its defender David Hanko. At 26, this central player is coming off a good season with Feyenoord Rotterdam, second behind the champion, PSV Eindhoven. An indisputable starter in the selection, Hancko is already a strong man in defense alongside the aging Milan Skriniar who has long been sidelined from the field at the start of 2024 with PSG.
