2 days Ago By Michael Leboff
One of the great things about international soccer tournaments is that the entire competition can be thrown into chaos at any moment. That’s exactly what happened on the final days of the group stage at Euro 2024. Austria and Romania surprised the soccer world by winning their groups, while Georgia pulled its own stunner by defeating Portugal to qualify for the knockout stage in its first appearance at a major tournament.
The ripple effect of those results was that they threw the draw into complete chaos, with Spain, Germany, France, Belgium and Portugal landing on one half of the draw, while England — which has disappointed through three matches — found itself in a cushy half of the bracket with the Netherlands and Italy as the only other heavyweights on their side. Even that description is a bit flattering considering how those two teams have played so far. An unbalanced draw like this one will completely shake up the betting board and gives punters the opportunity to scoop up some value on teams they may have passed on before the tournament began.
Here are two to consider: Netherlands (13/1, FanDuel ) Sometimes things just break your way. That’s exactly what’s happened to the Netherlands at Euro 2024. The Dutch were pedestrian at best en route to a 1-1-1 showing in the group stage and finished in third place behind Austria and France, but that worked out for the best as they will now face Romania in the Round of 16 and, should they prevail, the winner between Aus.
