Euros Group Stage Review

Tyler Stearns |

The Euros has been an amazing tournament so far. Great goals, great players, and great fans have been at the forefront of the success of this year's UEFA European Championship. We have seen some great surprises, like Spain and Germany dominating along with teams like Romania and Austria topping hard groups. We have also seen some disappointing teams with high expectations, like England and Ukraine.

So far, there have been some important takeaways that will ultimately decide the outcome of the knockout stages and eventually the final.

Marko Arnautovic, Via Fox Sports

1. France and England are underperforming France and England have looked poor this Euro. France has only scored one goal, coming at the penalty spot, and gotten their other from an own-goal. They got five points from their group of the Netherlands, Austria, and Poland (the surprise group of death). Their defense has played well, only conceding one goal, but their attack has lacked. Luckily, though, they have the firepower of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele and the defensive insurance of N'Golo Kante to give them a better chance in the next round. England, on the other hand, have been poor. They got five points from their first five games, but their performance was unconvincing each match. Southgate's substitutes have been questionable and his positioning of the starters has raised even more flags. Foden shouldn't be playing left wing, Trent Shouldn't be in midfield, and Trippier shouldn't be playing left back. The team seems to have all the star power necessary, if even more so, but the cohesion of the players is lacking.
   

2. Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal are the key to Spain's success Spain has dominated the Euros so far. Even when starting their backups, they beat Albania 1-0. They got nine points in three games and destroyed Croatia and Italy, two of the tougher teams in the tournament. In the first two matches, their attack was amazing. They put pressure on Italy and Croatia with constant attacks. Though they didn't score a ton of goals, but they had many opportunities. Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal led most of those attacks and they will continue to do so. If Spain want a chance in this Euros, they will need to rely on their two young wingers.
   

3. Portugal's team is strong, but has issues Ronaldo and the Portuguese are playing well at the moment, especially against Turkey. Though they lost a meaningless game to Georgia, they still look to be a favorite to win the cup. They do have some glaring issues, though. Their attack hasn't been great. Ronaldo, Leao, and Bernardo Silva have combined for one of their five goals so far. Many of their successful chances have come from headers or long shots, both unsustainable forms of offense. They have to push the ball forward and score with linkup play going forward.
   

4. Austria is the real deal No one would have expect Ralf Rangick (the father of modern pressing football) to lead Austria to the top of a group with France and Netherlands. They lost to france from an own goal cause by Kylian Mbappe, but looked convincing in each match of the group stage. Their best game was against the Netherlands, where they won 3-2. Even if the Dutch went up, they bounced back and scored a goal of their own. Now, going into the round of 16, they look like a real threat to upset some high quality nations.
   

5. Belgium is being disrespected Belgium came in second in Group E behind Romania. Every team finished with four points in that pool, each won, drew, and lost one game. Unfortunately for Ukraine, though, they were unlucky to have finished fourth on goal differential. Though Belgium didn't place first, the difficulty of the group they were in will set them up for the round of 16. They play France first, who looked poor in their group. If Lukaku and score the goals he is capable of, Kevin De Bruyne provides his teammates with good passes, and Vertonghen can lead the defense, than Belgium should be set to beat France.