The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the final four teams at UEFA Euro 2024 and tries to predict how things could pan out in the semi-finals.
UEFA Euro 2024 will go down in history as one of the most exciting football tournaments on the continental stage. We have already had some blockbuster fixtures which have gone down to the wire, and penalty shootouts have been the only way to separate the teams.
Spain, France, the Netherlands, and England have managed to come this far in the competition, and one of these teams will have the silverware in their hands on the night of 14th July. But, there is still a long way to go for all four teams as 90 minutes or even more of intense footballing action awaits them in the semis.
Luis de la Fuente’s Spain who have been the most dominant force at the European Championship are all set to square up against a French team that has yet to score from open play in the tournament. Despite having one of the best squads at the tournament they haven’t been able to click yet.
However, having made it to the last four, Les Bleus do have a chance of getting things in order and winning Euro 2024. Gareth Southgate’s England are another team that has not been at its best. But they have managed to make it this far and will now go up against the Netherlands, who have started to click in the knockout stage.
The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at all four teams and their performances in the quarter-finals to give you a verdict on how things could pan out in the penultimate round of the tournament, as we did in the previous stage.
Spain vs France
Having knocked out hosts Germany in the quarter-finals, Spain will now be quite confident about their chances of winning the silverware. They have an exceptionally talented squad under the leadership of Luis de la Fuente, who has already had a lot of success at the youth levels.
His tactics seem to be doing wonders for them, and they have played some of the best football that we have seen at Euro 2024. The game against Germany was not really easy, but they did manage to get the job done. As far as France are concerned, they managed to get the better of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in their last fixture.
Once again, France struggled in the final third of the pitch; they created quite a few chances but could not convert them and needed a penalty shootout to come out on top. Les Bleus surely have a star-studded squad that on its day can take down any opposition. But, their recent form suggests they will have problems dealing with Spain.
Both teams love to hit the opposition on the break by using the pace of their wingers. But when it comes to playing possession-based football, La Roja will surely have a slight edge over the 2018 World Cup winners in the UEFA Euro 2024 semi-finals.
Expect both teams to have spells where they will look to control the tempo of the game, and there will be times when they will allow the opposition to have the ball as they will look to hit them on the break. Spain seem to have the upper hand heading into this fixture based on current form.
But, they have suffered three major blows before the game against France as Pedri is injured, Robin Le Normand is suspended following a second yellow at UEFA Euro 2024, and Dani Carvajal is suspended after getting sent off in the final minutes of the game against Germany.
With three important players unavailable, Spain might not be as effective as they have been so far. Meanwhile, Didier Deschamps has a full squad to choose from which is surely an advantage. But, that might not be enough to get them into the final.
Netherlands vs England
The Oranje did not have that great a start to the tournament. But things started to fall in place during the knockout fixtures. They had a dominant 3-0 win over Romania in the round of 16 and have followed it up with a comeback win against Turkiye, who had been doing well at Euro 2024.
The Netherlands find themselves in the semi-finals of the European Championship for the first team since 2004. Only Spain (11) have scored more goals than the Oranje (9), which makes it quite clear that England won’t have it easy.
The Three Lions, who lost the final of Euro 2020, have once again managed to reach the final four of a major tournament. While the team in white have made it this far, they have not been able to play the kind of football the fans expect from a team that has the best players from across the top leagues of the world.
A late Jude Bellingham goal saved them in the round of 16 against Slovenia before they won it with a Harry Kane strike in extra time. While they did showcase glimpses of how threatening they can be after going a goal down against Switzerland, England could not win in normal time, and penalties ended up deciding who makes it to the final four.
Both teams will have a full squad to choose from as none of their players are suspended for this fixture. Given the kind of performances both teams have put up so far in this tournament, it is expected to be a cagey affair. Once again, we might not have a result in 90 minutes in a game where England are involved.
While on paper they are the favourites and they do have the quality to dominate the Netherlands, in the end only a small margin will separate the two teams, and the Three Lions will most likely be the team that makes it to yet another final.
