Pandemona's Euro 2016 Power Rank!
24-16
Hungary i am afraid are the weakest tournament in the competition to me. The squad is still based around old players like Kiraly and Gera so that does not convince me at all and the way they got into this tournament via the playoffs did not fill me with any confidence at all. Those two games vs Norway i watched due to having a Norwegian friend i was potentially gonna go to the finals with and well it was all Norway and some lucky counter goals from Hungary and before you knew it tie was over. Norway literally missed chance after chance as Hungary gripped onto the tiny blades of grass for survival. The only thing this team has going for them is they very much seem a team and the squad is on a huge high, with recent draws vs Hungary and Croatia they might be in this tournament with their tales up, however their group is very unfavourable and ill have them finishing bottom.
Prediction: Group Stage Elimination
23
Albania, slightly better than our friends in Hungary but only just, they seem to score a few more goals as of late but still i can't see them holding out the big teams. In a group with hosts France i can't see them grabbing a qualification spot. They should be proud as this is the first time Albania have qualified for a major tournament! A nice happy holiday is all i see this tournament for the Albanians im afraid.
Prediction: Group Stage Elimination
22
Northern Ireland, now if they had a different group i might have ranked them higher, but with an absolutely monsterous challenge of a group i have to throw them further down the pecking order. Going up against the current world champions in Germany, and teams who are well drilled in both offensive and defensive in Ukraine i can't even see them grabbing a point! That is with Northern Ireland in some decent form scoring goals and keeping a few clean sheets on the way. However i can't see them getting out of this group of death unless something really strange happens.
Prediction: Group Stage Elimination
21
Republic of Ireland, now i have them above their counterparts but pretty low down the list really, however they are an old squad, they still rely on Robbie Keane for goals and at 35 and been playing the last 3 seasons out in the MLS i can't see that being a good idea. They have some strange results do the irish and they are always a fantastic challenge and always up for it, but i think class will show in this group, especially with Conte's Italy and the great Belgians. Maybe a 3rd place finish if they could get anything out of the Sweden game, but again that is asking alot.
Prediction: Group Stage Elimination
20
Russia, pretty low right? Yeah i can't see much from this Russian side. Capello took charge after a dismissal World Cup qualifying campaign and well he couldn't do anything with them. They managed to rally and beat Sweden to the automatic 2nd qualification spot somehow with wins over the minnows of the group and that all important 1-0 controversial win in Moscow. Fast forward to 2016 and they have still failed to look good i can't see them stopping a Bale inspire Wales, let alone England or a highly ranted Slovakia.
Prediction: Group Stage Elmination
19
Czech Republic, now i have no idea how this nation still manages to qualify for tournaments, they shouldn't on paper lets be realistic, but they do and they do so impressively when you look back on it. They had a group with some pretty good footballing nations and add in the biggest surprise of Iceland they did very well to top this group. They still do silly things at times and concede some daft goals, but one thing for sure is they are gonna be entertaining as usual in these tournaments. However with the group they have this time round it will between them and Turkey for a potential high placed 3rd place finish for the knock out stages, in which i think Turkey will take.
Prediction: Group Stage Elimination
18
Iceland, the minnows of this competition, a massive population of just 323,000 people!!!! It has managed to automatically qualify for this tournament ahead of the Netherlands and Turkey, two huge footballing nations and in Turkey's case a huge nation overall. Making their debut in the European competition they will be looking for a good result and i will see them finishing 3rd ahead of Hungary but i think they will miss out on a decent 3rd place finish spot with just 1 win and few goals. However lets hope Eidur Gudjohnson can relive some magic at the grand old age of 37 and lets see eh?
Prediction: 3rd Place and Eliminated
17
Wales, now controversial maybe, fact of the mater though, take Bale out of this team and you have a terrible looking outfit. There is a reason it has taken Wales this long to make their debut in European competitions in the summer and that is because they only ever had that one good player, Giggs, Toschak etc to name a few, now they have a world class player who is top 10 on the planet. He literally dragged them to France from the valley's but i can't see him grabbing himself and this team out of the group stage. I have them losing to England, beating Russian and drawing to Slovakia and finishing behind Slovakia who will have better goals ratio. Not bad for the Welsh at all but i can't have them qualifying now can i
Prediction: 3rd Place and Elminated
16-8
16
Ukraine, now they have always been competitive as of late, going back to when they hosted the competition in 2010, however i can't see this team getting much further than just the knock out stages, they could even drop points to this Northern Ireland team. However if they did beat Ireland i can see them comfortably taking a 3rd place spot with good goal difference. There squad improves every time i see it Ukraine, however they still have a back 4 that scares me after the horror show i saw from Shakthar Donestk vs Sevilla earlier this year, Rakitskiy straight up has 3 errors a game in him lately and makes David Luiz look normal! However a 3rd place spot into a round of 16 exit.
Prediction: Round of 16 Defeat
15
Sweden are always a challenging game in these competitions, England found that out in 2010 and only the greatest striker in the world in Andy Carroll managed to keep them at bay and put them out. However this squad is ageing and without its talisman in Zlatan they do struggle a bit. They are in a competitive group with Belgium and Italy, however if either of those two start this competition a bit slow Sweden will benefit, i have them taking a draw and beating Ireland making them a comfortable 3rd place side.
Prediction: Round of 16 Defeat
14
Romanian, are you drunk? No this side impresses me, i have watched the odd game as of late for many different reasons and they do the basics right. They are well drilled, they don't concede much and somehow, they no how to put the ball in the net. They tailed off in qualifying at the end, but don't forget the glorious FIFA rankings had this team 7th in September 2015, have to deserve respect no? They will finish 3rd in this group and will make France sweat alot in the opening game in my opinion.
Prediction: Round of 16 Defeat
13
Turkey, now they haven't impressed me personally, but they were in dire straights in qualifying at one point, only for the great Turkish legend of Fatih Terim to step into the national squad and revitalising the team. Going on a run where they beat Netherlands, Iceland and Czec Republic as they had to do to qualify and doing all that without conceding a goal and scoring 6 made them advance as the special 3rd place wild card (didn't have to go into playoffs, UEFA are strange..) They have some top players and talents with the likes of Turan of Barcelona now and the freekick specialist of Calhangoglu, they could be a fright. They will do some damage in the group but finish 3rd only.
Prediction: Round of 16 Defeat
12
Slovakia, a surprise team making it to the finals after the group they had, but having beating Spain in that famous match and at one point matching England's 100% record they were looking a strong solid team. They did stutter a bit and got beat fairly by Spain in the 2nd game as well as a draw vs Ukraine and a minor embarrassing defeat to Belarus, they still comfortably finished 2nd ahead of Ukraine. Add in that Slovakia punished a lacklustre German side in Germany in a pre tournament friendly they should be a comfortable second in England's group and be more than enough for our friends in Wales and Russia respectively.
Prediction: Round of 16 Defeat
11
Croatia, now this team always disappoints me, after the humiliation they gave England back in 2006 stopping us from entering Euro 2008 to see them not quite reaching that level again is hard for me to believe. They have a squad on paper that looks very good, filled with superstars like Modric, Rakitic and Mandzukick and young superstars in the making like Kovacic and Coric (seriously watch this kid, looks amazing) they always do something stupid between themselves, very much like France used to do when the whole team ethic just falls apart and they deteriorate rapidly. They should comfortable finish second in their group.
Prediction: Round of 16 Defeat
10
Switzerland, they have been in a bit of trouble at the start of the qualifying campaign, after losing their legendary manager in Ottmar Hitzfeld they did struggle. Losing embarrassingly at home to a resurgent England in game 1 to then struggle to even look like making second after dropping more points they managed to regroup and finish relatively strongly and take 2nd spot. They play some decent stuff the Swiss but they just same like they are missing a player or even two. I think they also lack goals to do damage in France. Second place in the group behind France of course.
Prediction: Round of 16 Defeat
9
Belgium...9th are you crazy Panda. Ok here me out first i know calm down. They are going to finish behind our friends Italy in 2nd in their group right. I see that, most people might too or at least predict it. That means they will in my likely hood face our friends Portugal, now they are on paper so inferior to the delights the Belgian squad bestows on us mere mortals. However, this Portuguese team has the Ronaldo man in it, now im not saying he can 1 man defeat this Belgian team, but in a last 16 match he can pose the ultimate difference. The Belgian team is a nightmare for me, it should be 100x better and they would be 99x better if they just hired a decent coach and throw out Marc Willmott's who is just a tactical nightmare with the way he sets out his team. That being said it is going to be a very close game i see in the round of 16 but i see them bowing out here leaving us all disappointed again and wanting more from this extremely talented bunch.
Prediction: Round of 16 Defeat
8-4
8
Poland, this is going to be a better tournament for the Poles, but that is only because this time they will not embarrass themselves by actually getting out of the group! They have steadily improved as of late and with Lewandowski leading the line they always have that importance of GOALS. Their best squad in a while if you ask them but it is whether they have the nous to make a real deep line in this tournament. I have them being very competitive in their group and only just finishing 2nd, however when the competition starts becoming more serious they might freeze it will be all new to them and it comes upon them very fast!
Prediction: Round of 8 Defeat
7
Italy, ok now this is based on what i have seen of the Italians and the players outside the talented defensive talents have not much going forward. Now i would love to be proved wrong so i can re hone the Don Conte chelsea bandwagon but i cannot see them doing much more than stumbling in front of the Germans in the round of 8. However, they are well drilled and will be, Conte demands 100% minimum and i can see them being well oiled and much like the Germans they always turn up in tournaments. However i see them as 7th favourites for this tournament.
Prediction: Round of 8 Defeat
6
Austria. Ok these are my secret Leicester tip, if someone in this competition is going to show us that great teamwork and a few special talents (Alaba, Arnautović and Janko) they can and will go far. They have shown in qualifying with a 9W 1D record beating Sweden and Russia to a comfortable top spot and only conceding 5 goals they have to be respected. They defend cleanly and as a unit, they do everything right and they have danger men upfront. Arnautović can either win you a game or look like he isn't bothered but if they can get him up for it along with the goal scorer Janko they should do as good as i expect.
Prediction: Round of 8 Defeat
5
Portugal, now they are a lot better than they have been, they were struggling to qualify for competitions, taking Sweden right the way to a last game shoot out before reaching Brazil world cup and starting this campaign to qualify for the Euros a bit shaky. But a bunch of 1-0 victories courtesy of country legend Ronaldo, they found themselves at the airport waiting for there boarding passes to France. They should be competitive, they have a group which should allow them a slow and forgiving start but also a chance to flex their muscles and get a hype train flowing inside the team camp. If they didn't have to face England in the quarter finals who knows, but Ronaldo will be denied another title with England, this time at the hands of England
Prediction: Round of 8 Defeat
4-1!
4
Hurts me to put England here to be honest and we don't deserve to be but i have to reserve some hype eh? They have the best attacking line up in the competition by a long way, the strikers have a combined goal tally this season of; 73! (Kane 28 - Vardy 24 - Rashford 8 - Sturridge 13) they come in with abundance of form (that's without counting Wayne ). However this is a few questions at the back and the shape of the team. They look good counter attacking and not to bad at keeping the ball, however Dier needs a partner alongside him and unless Henderson is fit to be a good engine alongside him we will be left with either a pointless Milner who offers little to the team or Wislhere who you just don't know what you will from him. However i still them getting very far here but falling to those darn Spaniards who seem to have our number as of late.
Prediction: Semi Finalist
3
Germany, calling world champions Germany! Wait just 3rd ? Yeah i will see them losing to France in a repeat of the 2014 knock out game where Germany edged it as we all remember in which the Germans looked very poor that game. Germany have not improved since the world cup win in 2014 lets all be realistic. This isn't the Spanish team from 2008 when they started there delightful run of back to back Euros and a world cup win in the middle, this team is far from that. With injuries to Reus again their offensive options look alot less scary too and add in the fact there only recognised striker in the whole 23 is Gomez, who every German hates, does not bode well for confidence. Low has done a remarkable job with the German's and does get my respect, but his 23 looks very average and the defence, well it's pretty poor and could be considering one of the worst in the tournament! However if the offensive talent they have left turn up, Ozil, Muller, Gotze and co maybe we might see the Germany of 2014, but i doubt it and i have only respectfully put them top 3.
2
Spain. Now this was the hardest decision by a long way, Spain and France for me i cannot call them and with Spain i just dislike their forward line. Del Bosque has the dream talents to choose from in Europe a delightful midfield in which any of the players from it would walk into any other 24 teams starting 11 let alone squad. However they lack a striker, much like Germany but probably even worst as with the Germans Gomez has goals at international level and a few of them, Adruiz Morata and Nolito do not have more than 4 between them going into a championships. He left Torres and Costa at home who at least club level managed to break the double figure level (minus Adruiz of course). Now they should have more than enough with the likes of Iniesta Cesc Perdo and Koke backing the front line up but if they struggle and get kept at bay they will struggle and for that reason i can our number 1 team beating them...
Prediction: Runners Up!
1
France, Oui, Oui! Yes our hosts of this years tournament and by far the most well rounded squad with talents from goalkeepers to strikers and all those in between. They have not played a competitive game since the world cup defeat to Germany however, but i still think this time France have things right. Deschamps at the helm has done his career wonders with what he has achieved (so far) with the French squad, he highlighted this tournament as the one they were really gonna go for, even in Brazil. So, there is pressure and well maybe that might be the stumbling block if they don't fulfil my prediction. Looking through the exciting list of talents with Martial, Griezmann, Pogba, Payet, Kante, Koscielny and Lloris you really see a well rounded squad and the potential for a deep run. Topping their group does give them a pretty comfortable draw until the semi finals too if all goes well but who knows i still think they are gonna be very hard to beat. The only ones who can beat them will be themselves if they take their eye off the prize or start the dreaded in house fighting!
So there we have it, 24-1, nice little essay. Now....lets see who will be right
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