Euro 2016

Cristiano Ronaldo’s dragon-slaying exploits against Wales moved him to within one goal of Euro 2016 leading scorer Antoine Griezmann ahead of Portugal’s appearance in Sunday’s final. CR7 bagged the first in the Seleccao’s 2-0 semi-final win with a bullet header from close range, taking his tally to three for the tournament. As a result, Ronaldo’s More...

When the Manic Street Preachers released that shamelessly cheesy Euro 2016 ballad dedicated to their beloved national football team, few would have predicted Wales as semi-finalists.  But now the world really is in danger of being turned into an inferno by Chris Coleman’s Dragons, with a powerful trend suggesting the seasoned Welsh rockers may soon More...

Germany: 39/20, The Draw: 2/1, France: 9/5 Shadowing Germany in the betting to win Euro 2016 is their semi-final opponent France but, intriguingly, it is the French who the bookies deem more likely to prevail when the duo collide in the last four. Didier Deschamps’ men are 37/20 second-favourites for Euros glory, while Die Mannschaft More...

Odds: Portugal: 5/4, The Draw: 21/10, Wales: 29/10   Euro 2016 is the first football tournament featuring Wales in the semi-final stage. A stunning, but thoroughly-deserved 3-1 victory over Belgium booked them a berth in the last four, where they’ll face Portugal. Just how the Seleccao have ventured so far remains a mystery – they’re More...

France are hot on Germany’s heels at just 37/20 to win Euro 2016 following the hosts’ 5-2 thumping of Iceland in the last quarter-final, with Joachim Low’s World Cup winners hanging onto favouritism at 9/5 ahead of the historic rivals’ semi-final clash in Paris. With three of the top five scorers in the tournament, including More...

Wales provided a Euro 2016 shock to rival Iceland’s eliminating of England in overcoming Belgium to reach the semi-finals. Their 3-1 win ensured them a place in history as the joint-best debutants at the tournament (they equaled Sweden’s performance at Euro ’92, though in truth, the effort of Chris Coleman’s men is far superior given More...

Match Odds: France 9/20, The Draw 7/2, Iceland 15/2 To advance to the next round: France 9/50, Iceland 15/4 There’s a relatively-modern Greek legend that has it that just because an underdog shocks the world in overturning enormous odds once, doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of doing so again and again. Similarly, the tale in More...

Portugal were the first nation to book a Euro 2016 semi-final spot, overcoming Poland in a penalty shootout after the teams couldn’t be separated in 120 minutes. Incredibly, despite being guaranteed a last four berth, the Seleccao have yet to win a match inside normal time and haven’t been ahead for more than 22 minutes More...

The time is now to back Portugal teenager Renato Sanches to be UEFA player of the tournament for Euro 2016 at 20/1. Granted his first start of the tournament in the Seleccao’s quarter-final victory over Poland by Fernando Santos, the 18-year-old showed exactly why Bayern Munich moved to snap him up from Benfica before the More...

Odds: Germany: 5/4, The Draw: 2/1, Italy: 3/1 Germany’s return to form in the final third against Slovakia sent out an ominous message to their Euro 2016 rivals, but will the obliteration of a tournament small fry in the last-16 instil the confidence to shake their almighty Azzurri hoodoo? Given their place in the pantheon More...

Footballer, phenomenon, fragrance… Zlatan Ibrahimovic is many things to many people. The A-Zlatan takes Ibraphiles beyond the sidebar of shame quotes even the average budgerigar is bored of repeating, deep into the make-up of the newly-minted Manchester United man. More...

Everyone has an opinion on who should be the next England manager, including the current captain Wayne Rooney. When asked about who he would want in the dugout, the 30-year-old said: “Of course, it’s better if he’s English, but he has to be the right man for the job.” However, when looking at the home-grown More...

Match Odds: Wales 19/4, The Draw 13/5, Belgium 18/25 To advance to the next round: Wales 51/20, Belgium 7/25 Pre-tournament betting outsiders to qualify from Group B behind England, Russia and Slovakia, Wales have outlasted each of their mini-league stablemates. Their clash with Belgium for a place in the Euro 2016 semis has them near-5/1 More...

Odds: Poland: 3/1, The Draw: 2/1, Portugal: 5/4 Portugal’s Euro 2016 campaign so far bear similarities to the numerous tales of rookie casino goers who, disregarding any advice, strategy or instruction manual, tugged levers and bashed buttons on slots machines and ended up winning a fortune – they’ve no idea how, but their visit was More...

Roy Hodgson’s immediate resignation after England lost 2-1 to Iceland at Euro 2016 means the FA have to make a big decision in regard to his replacement. The Three Lions didn’t flourish during the former West Brom man’s time in charge, never winning a tournament knockout game, so whoever comes in will have to oversee More...

England are out of Euro 2016 after losing 2-1 to Iceland, a country only marginally more populated than Wakefield, in the round of 16. Roy Hodgson fell on his sword after the humiliation, with Gareth Southgate the 2/1 favourite to replace him, but the 68-year-old isn’t the only person who should face the consequences of More...

The exploits of past Euros top goalscorers suggest playing for one of 2016’s perceived underdogs is no barrier to Gareth Bale becoming the tournament’s leading marksman. Despite upsetting the odds to win Group B and then getting past Northern Ireland, Wales are 51/20 outsiders to get past Belgium into the semi-finals and 28/1 to lift More...

As far as pre-determined routes to international tournament finals go, the right side of the Euro 2016 draw is among the toughest ever. Five of the six pre-competition favourites must cross paths in a blockbuster-laden segment that’s sure to test the continent-conquering credentials of any potential victor. Defending champions Spain will play global overlords Germany More...

Roy Hodgson is set to make six changes to his England team for the second match in succession as the Three Lions bid to break down Iceland’s ‘Blue Wall’. Among the horde being parachuted in this time is the underperforming Raheem Sterling, a move that is sure to exasperate a large portion of supporters who More...

Odds: England: 11/20, The Draw: 11/4, Iceland: 29/4 Iceland’s last-gasp winning goal against Austria was celebrated with similar vigour amongst sections of England fans as it was the supporters of the nation who scored it. The motivation for this shared elation was provided by Arnor Traustason, whose injury-time strike re-routed Strakarnir okkar’s last-16 course from More...

The first knockout stage of Euro 2016 looks to be the equivalent of Homer Simpson’s entirely chocolate dream world for double-chance bettors. Aficionados of the aforementioned gamble need a very specific set of circumstances to throw up opportunities to indulge in their wager of choice. Unappetisingly-short favourites, priced up more on reputation than how they More...

England manager Roy Hodgson should bring Ross Barkley in from the cold at Adam Lallana’s expense to make his side more dangerous against Iceland. Given the Three Lions’ toils in oceans of benign possession against Russia, Wales and Slovakia during the group stage, Spain or Germany would have been more preferable round-of-16 opposition foes than More...

Match Odds: Italy 31/10, The Draw 11/10, Spain 23/20 To reach the next round: Italy 6/4, Spain 1/2 No tie in the round of 16 illustrates the old rumination ‘what difference a day makes’ more than Italy v Spain. Before losing their final group match to the Republic of Ireland the Azzurri had been trimmed from More...

Odds: Hungary: 11/2, The Draw: 27/10, Belgium: 65/100 One of Euro 2016’s surprise packages meets one of its more underwhelming outfits in this last-16 affair. Few fancied Hungary to qualify from Group F, let alone top it, while Belgium’s insipid pool E campaign did little to vindicate the hype that followed their talented squad to More...

Odds: Germany: 11/25, The Draw: 333/100, Slovakia: 17/2 Progression to the last 16 was Slovakia’s aim for Euro 2016, but pointers as to how they’d advance beyond the first knockout phase were seemingly omitted from the pre-tournament brief. The reward for drawing their final Group B match against England, a result which effectively guaranteed them More...

Match Odds: France 9/20, The Draw 31/10, Republic of Ireland 9/1 To advance to the next round: France 4/25, Republic of Ireland 4/1 After nigh-on seven long years submerged in liquid nitrogen at zero degrees Kelvin, revenge is finally the dish of the day for the Republic of Ireland. The last time they met France More...

Odds: Wales: Evens, The Draw: 21/10, Northern Ireland: 15/4 There’s a case to be made that, even though they lost one of their games, Wales have been the team of Euro 2016 so far. No rival nation has won more matches than the two Chris Coleman’s men have posted, nor have they scored more goals More...

With the Euro 2016 knockout line-up complete, we now know that only one of Germany, Italy, Spain, France and England, five of the eight current winner betting favourites, will be able to make it to the final, due to all being grouped together in the bottom half of the tournament bracket. Therefore, this gives a More...

Match Odds: Croatia 33/20, The Draw 2/1, Portugal 21/10 To Qualify: Croatia 3/4, Portugal Evens There are one or two teams in this tournament that wouldn’t mind being in Croatia’s position right now. In the top-half of the draw, the most fearsome opponents they will face before the final are Portugal, Belgium or Poland, with More...

Switzerland: 11/5, The Draw: 2/1, Poland: 8/5 Reaching the expanded knockout phase will have been a Euro 2016 prerequisite for Switzerland and Poland but, despite accomplishing their respective missions, both can feel somewhat underwhelmed with their group-stage performance. The Swiss mustered just one win in a relatively straightforward group, and even then it was barely More...