One of the reasons international tournaments are so beloved is the fact that they are a melting pot of not only different cultures, but entirely different football teams. There are sides who boast ten of the best players in the world, and sides consisting of players not even playing in a topflight; there are teams who turn up to every edition without fail, and there are those who are total unknown quantities. Luckily for us, Group F gives us all of that.
2016’s champions Portugal are joined by 2021’s imploding dark horses Türkiye, along with Czechia, the nation (probably) most famous for producing 2008 Milan Baroš, and Georgia, who have Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and a pipe dream. What’s not to love?
Portugal
Embed from Getty ImagesAh, Portugal – or, as it’s more commonly known, Nelly Furtado’s ancestral homeland. But besides their proficiency at producing noughties pop ballads, one thing you might not know about Portugal is that they have a reputation for being quite good at football, and the expectation is that that might just carry over into this summer.
But, in all seriousness, they look like a force to be reckoned with, not least because they’re the only side who went unbeaten in qualifying.
Portugal boast a squad which has a quite frankly ludicrous amount of talent. Yes, there’s Cristiano Ronaldo, but he’s at the twilight of his career now. This isn’t the side which won in 2016; that was, not to take anything away from the collective, essentially Ronaldo and his supporting cast. Now, things are different; now, Ronaldo’s teammates are cogs just as important as himself.
Embed from Getty ImagesFrom front to back, there are bona fide superstars as far as the eye can see, from defenders like Manchester City’s imperious Rúben Dias, Porto’s seemingly immortal Pepe (who, at 41, is the oldest outfielder at the tournament), and the ever-enigmatic João Cancelo – to midfielders like Manchester United’s talisman Bruno Fernandes, treble-winner Bernardo Silva and PSG’s exciting Vitinha – all the way to the forwards who line up alongside Ronaldo: there’s João Félix, still eagerly climbing to reach the heights expected of him, Milan’s Rafael Leão, who can’t go two days without being linked to a different club, and the last of a dying breed of poaching strikers that is Diogo Jota. That’s a hefty, hefty amount of talent for one paragraph.
One man not in that list worth keeping an eye on is João Neves. The latest product from the Benfica money factory, Neves has made a reputation for himself as the best midfielder playing in Portugal at the age of just 19.
He’s a player who can do it all in the middle of the park: he’s composed and a wonderful ball carrier, with a football IQ not to be expected from someone with his age. He can dance through midfields or spray the perfect pass. Despite being slight in stature, standing at only five feet nine inches tall, he’s no defensive slouch, either, racking up 2.5 tackles per game for a Benfica team which generally has a lot of the ball. There’s no wonder, then, that he’s being linked with a whole host of Europe’s top clubs, and where better to put yourself in the shop window than the European Championships?
Of course, Portugal are expected to go far every single year. Last time out, though, they flattered to deceive, facing round of 16 elimination against Roberto Martínez’s Belgium. So, in an effort to rejuvenate, they went on to change their manager, and hire… well, Roberto Martínez.
Embed from Getty ImagesMany people did not appreciate that the man presiding over Belgium’s golden generation was the same man who consistently guided Everton to mid-table mediocrity and achieved the mighty feat of relegation with Wigan (okay, he also won them the FA Cup), but the Spaniard did at least take the Red Devils to a third-pace finish at the World Cup and, what’s more, he beat Portugal.
So, if you can’t beat them, just take their manager. And, as sceptical as many understandably are regarding his career in international management, his Portugal side have been very good – again, they didn’t lose a single game in qualifying.
So, they have a frightening squad, they’re playing really quite well, and their manager is doing so much better than logic dictates he should be. There’s no reason to suspect Portugal can’t go very deep into this tournament.
Türkiye
Embed from Getty ImagesIf there was a team in this tournament that could be compared to a hit Katy Perry song from 2008, it’s Türkiye, because – and this cannot be stressed enough – they are hot and they are cold.
Since taking over in September of last year, Vincenzo Montella has coached a side that has been absolutely fantastic, going an entire qualification campaign with only one defeat. He’s also coached a side which, as of now, cannot win for love nor money.
Türkiye haven’t won a game of football in eight months. In that time, they’ve shipped six in one helping to Austria and, as of this week, lost to an all but Lewandowskiless Poland. Some sides going to the EUROs have found their form right at the perfect moment. Montella’s side, on the other hand, have done quite the opposite.
Expectations are low for Türkiye this time round, not least after they were the nailed-on dark horses in 2021 before losing all three group stage games and heading home with their Turkish delight all mushed up into Turkish misery.
Embed from Getty ImagesSo, all of that considered, there is only one reasonable conclusion to be had: they might actually surprise one or two people this year.
Their squad is, on paper, talented enough to cause problems, too, especially in the middle of the park. Hakan Çalhanoğlu, for example, starred for Simone Inzaghi’s imperious Scudetto winners Inter and has transformed himself from a decent attacking midfielder to one of the world’s very best ball-playing holding midfielders.
Then there’s Real Madrid’s 19-year-old Arda Güler who, after spending the majority of the season injured, exploded into form at just the right time, scoring in four of los Blancos’ last six La Liga matches. With an absolute wand of a left foot and impeccable technique for his age, Güler is already one of the best footballers in the world for his age.
What is perhaps more interesting from an Anglocentric point of view are the omissions from the squad: there’s no Çağlar Söyüncü, for example, who misses out because of injury, and his former Leicester teammate Cengiz Ünder is also absent because his form at runners’ up Fenerbahçe hasn’t been good enough.
The squad is fine, the manager can inspire a winning team (but isn’t doing that at the moment) and expectations are at an almost historic low. All of that put together, and their chances don’t look very high. So, with all that said, maybe this year they are dark horses. Or, alternatively, maybe not.
Czechia
Embed from Getty ImagesNo one loves playing in European Championships more than Czechia. Since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, Czechia have appeared in every single edition of the competition. They generally don’t venture too deep into the tournaments themselves, but they did finish third in 2004 thanks in no small part to the exploits of the icon of Liverpudlian football that is Milan Baroš. They don’t have him anymore, but the squad is tidy enough and, hey, it’s the Euros: Czechia are part of the furniture.
Since January, the man in charge has been former Czechoslovakia captain Ivan Hašek, but his route to the job has been… interesting. He first left Europe in 2003 to coach Vissel Kobe in Japan. Then, barring stints at Saint-Ettienne and his first with the national team, he bounced around the middle east and Africa, managing in Gabon, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and even Lebanon, with whom he failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup and was subsequently sacked. Oh, and he was also the president of the Czech FA in 2009. Obviously.
So, he’s back with his own national team, and has inherited a squad playing surprisingly well. Having only lost once since the start of 2023, Czechia have only improved since Hašek’s appointment, winning all four of their games this year, including a 7-1 win over Malta at the start of June. Yes, it’s Malta, but still; seven goals are seven goals.
When you look at the squad, it’s no surprise they’re playing this well, and there are a couple of standout names.
First, there’s no looking past Patrik Schick, who flattered to deceive in Italy with Roma but has found a home in Germany, first with RB Leipzig and now with invincible champions Bayer Leverkusen – and without Schick, they would certainly have lost at least a couple. Late goal expert as he is, his strike rate for Alonso’s team has been outstanding, scoring 43 goals in 90 Bundesliga appearances. He’s been just as prolific for the national team, too; a tally of 19 goals in 38 games is pretty impressive in itself– add the Euro 2020 golden boot and goal of the tournament to that and you’re looking are an excellent, excellent record. No surprises, then, that he’ll be the man to rely on again in the goalscoring department.
But he will have some help, particularly from set pieces, because West Ham’s Tomas Souček loves a headed goal. But, more than that, he’s the metronome upon whom the squad will rely in the middle of the park and, as captain at a tournament for the first time, there’s an extra layer of responsibility for the bullet header enthusiast.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith the tools at their disposal and the form they’re in, this could be another European Championship where they have the potential to do very well. They made the quarterfinals last time out and they’ve improved since then. They’re playing an awful lot better than Türkiye as well, so they could be one to keep an eye on.
Georgia
Embed from Getty ImagesWhen you think of Georgia, you probably think of legendary hip-hop duo Outkast or American football, before someone butts in to inform you that you’re thinking of the wrong Georgia.
The right Georgia will be playing in their first ever tournament this summer and are the lowest ranked team in the entire competition. But they do have one thing that no one else has: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Napoli rather came out of nowhere when they won the Scudetto without so much of a challenge in 2022/23, and the same thing happened for their new winger acquisition from Dinamo Batumi. For the price of around €12 million, Luciano Spalletti got his hands on the best thing since sliced Khachapuri. Kvaraskhelia dazzled Europe, adopted the nickname of ‘Kvaradona’ (which is just a little significant coming from Napoli fans), won Serie A player of the season and guided Georgia to the Euros. Not bad.
But he’s just the tip of the iceberg. Granted, it is a tip made of gold, but Georgia have quietly developed their best crop of footballers ever, with Valencia’s Giorgi Mamardshvili and Metz’s Georges Mikautadze other standouts.
The issue is that they’re not playing that well. Since the start of 2023, they’ve lost 10-2 on aggregate to Spain and only won in 90 minutes against Mongolia, Cyprus, Thailand, Luxembourg and Montenegro; none of those will be playing at the Euros, and they haven’t beaten a team who will be there this summer since defeating Romania in June 2021. To further complicate matters, they only qualified through UEFA’s convoluted Nations League pathway, defeating Greece on penalties after finishing fourth in their qualification group. It’s not a great omen.
They’re currently managed by former Bayern Munich defender Willy Sagnol. With Bordeaux his only other head coaching role to speak of, qualifying for the Euros is his best achievement as a manager so far.
They have the odds stacked firmly against them. They will be relying very heavily on the magic of Kvaratskhelia, and odds are goalkeeper Mamardshvilli will be tested an awful lot, especially considering they’ll be facing Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrik Schick. If they’re not very careful indeed, it could be a short tournament for Georgia.
You can follow every kick of the ball in Group F here on FromTheSpot.