Will Sweden be able to write a new great page in its history by retaining its European title? A performance that only two nations have achieved in the past: Spain recently (2018 and 2020) and… Sweden, precisely, titled consecutively three times between 1998 and 2002. But neither the France of Experts, nor the Denmark of Mikkel Hansen failed to win, which symbolizes the difficulty of winning this continental competition in a sport where the elite is overwhelmingly European.
Still led by its master Jim Gottfridsson, Sweden has the means to achieve this, but it will have to face huge competition. Starting with that of France (see below) and Denmark, three-time reigning world champion but who has not won the Euro since 2012. For one of the last dances of Mikkel Hansen (36 years old) at the international level, there is no doubt that the Scandinavian team will be keen to shine. Just like Germany at home. Even if, on paper, the Mannschaft does not have the flashiest team in the competition, but at home, carried away by the crowd and possibly with in-house refereeing, it will be formidable. On the podium in the last five editions, Spain will still be a difficult bone to gnaw, while Croatia, Norway, Iceland and Hungary can create a few surprises and cut a few heads.
*****: Denmark****: France, Sweden, Germany***: Spain**: Croatia, Norway
It is both simple to understand, which is not so usual in this customary discipline of convoluted formulas, and oh so complicated for all the teams. The first phase will consist of six groups of four teams. The first two in each group will continue to the main round, retaining the result obtained (or conceded) against the other qualified team from the group. There will then be two groups of six teams and only the first two from each of its groups will join the last four, contested by direct elimination matches.
In other words, the room for error is very limited and a defeat in the first group phase immediately places the team concerned with a sword of Damocles over their heads. It can even prove prohibitive in the event of a significant difference. Indeed, at the end of the main round, it is entirely possible to have a three-way tie at the top of the group with only teams with four wins and one loss, and to be eliminated due to a difference unfavorable particular goals. France will therefore have every interest in refueling in its first three matches to look forward to the future with greater confidence and serenity…
Obviously, as with every major competition, they are big and are often summed up like this: winning gold. While last December, their female counterparts won their third world star, Guillaume Gille’s players do not want to be left out and they are aiming for a fourth European coronation after those of 2006, 2010 and 2014. A legitimate ambition in view of the squad made available to the coach, which this time only has one absent, goalkeeper Vincent Gérard. Far, therefore, from the massacre experienced during the previous edition, which the exhausted Blues finished at the foot of the podium. Still with its totem Nikola Karabatic to guide it and a host of (very) great talents such as Dika Mem, Nedim Remili and Ludovic Fabregas, to name but a few, France presents a very complete profile in all positions. It remains to overcome the curse which wants the French to fail at each Euro six months preceding the Olympics (11th in 2012, 5th in 2016, 14th in 2020 even if the Games had finally taken place in 2021 due to Covid).
Given that no team in history has managed to achieve the Euro-JO double in the same year, we almost want to say that for France, it is better not to win the title in Germany. Except that each series that lasts over time necessarily approaches its end, and that in terms of confidence, success at the Euro would be a fantastic booster. Now, not all teams will necessarily have the same motivation or the same pressure. As the organizing country, France already has its ticket to Paris 2024, as does Denmark, last year’s world champion. And the European champion on January 28 will also win his precious sesame. Or the highest ranked team if France or Denmark were to win. Likewise, ranking well during this Euro could open the way to participation in an Olympic qualifying tournament (TQO), possibly with the costume of organizing country. So some teams will play nothing more and nothing less than their short-term Olympic future on this competition.
The French team will open the competition this Wednesday against Macedonia (6 p.m.) in the Merkur-Spiel Arena in Düsseldorf. Traditionally a football stadium, which can accommodate 54,600 spectators. Which would constitute an absolute audience record for the discipline, the previous one dating from September 6, 2014 during a German championship match between Rhein-Neckar Löwen and Hamburg (44,189 spectators). And on the international level, it was the 8th and the quarter-final of the Blues organized at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Lille during the 2017 World Cup (28,000 spectators each time). However, the prospect of seeing the enclosure full for the duel between France and Macedonia is very low, so the record will be broken instead by the Germany-Switzerland meeting which will take place at 8:30 p.m. And another record could be broken: that of the greatest number of goals scored by a player during the Euro. For the moment, it belongs to the Icelandic Gudjón Valur Sigurdsson with 288 goals scored during the ten European Championships in which he took part. But with 279 and 260 goals scored respectively, Nikola Karabatic and Mikkel Hansen, present during this Euro, could well erase the Nordic from the top of the shelves.
