Euro 2024: Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manager Names 6 Favourite Countries

• The long-awaited 2024 UEFA European Championship kicks off later today with Germany in action as the hosts
• They will open the continental event against tournament dark horses, Scotland, at Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena
• Portugal head coach, Roberto Martinez, has named six favourite countries that cannot be ignored at the event

The 2024 European Championship kicks off today (June 14) in Germany, and Portugal head coach, Roberto Martinez, has named his six favourite countries to win.

The 17th edition of the tournament begins later tonight with the hosts playing Scotland in the opening game as 24 countries battle for the right to succeed Italy as champions.

The Italians were dominant at the last tournament and beat England on penalties in the final to win their first major outing since the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

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Martinez names six favourites for Euro 2024

Martinez is leading Portugal to the Euros, hoping to replicate their 2016 outing, where they were champions under former head coach, Fernando Santos.

This will be the Spaniard's second Euro after leading Belgium to a quarter-final finish in 2021. Speaking to AS, via Sportskeeda, he has named six countries with chances of winning.

"There are several teams that have players who are used to fighting for all the titles: France, England, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal... We cannot ignore them... Gives us our responsibility to be in that lot," he said.

England are the only country he listed that has yet to taste victory in the tournament, with their best outing coming in 2020 when they finished as runners-up.

His list agrees with Opta Analyst's prediction, which listed the counties in the top seven, with the Netherlands breaking in ahead of defending champions, Italy.

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The Three Lions are ahead of France in first place with a 19.9% chance of lifting the trophy for the first time.

Euro 2024 Golden Boot favourites

Sports Brief also reported on Euro 2024 Golden Boot favourites as analysed by a supercomputer, with top stars like Kylian Mbappe, Romelu Lukaku, and Cristiano Ronaldo named.

The French national team captain is yet to open his Euro account after failing to find the back of the net at the previous edition when Les Bleus were eliminated by a tough Switzerland.