England remain the bookmakers’ favourites to win the European Championships following its postponement until 2021.
The Three Lions had overtaken World Cup holders France as favourites in recent weeks, even when Euro 2020 was scheduled to take place as planned.
With the tournament now taking place as Euro 2021, England remain favourites with odds of 11/2 at the time of writing.
The big losers as a result of the postponement are Belgium. The Red Devils were second favourites behind England at the start of March, having completed a perfect qualification campaign with 30 points from 30. But their odds have drifted from 5/1 to 7/1 to win the tournament over the past month.
The bookies have perhaps decided that the extra year will be detrimental to Roberto Martinez’s experienced squad. Napoli forward Dries Martins will now be aged 34 when Euro 2021 kicks off, Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld will be aged 33 and club-mate Jan Vertonghen will be 34.
Thomas Vermaelen will be aged 35 as will fellow veteran centre-back Vincent Kompany. Eden Hazard, Axel Witsel, Dedryck Boyata, Nacer Chadli and Christian Benteke will all be the wrong side of 30, while Kevin de Bruyne will celebrate his 30th birthday during the tournament.
If you think that ageing squad still has what it takes to win the tournament, this bonus code will help you to get the most out of Belgium’s longer odds.
Belgium’s slight drift has seen France leapfrog them in the betting. Les Bleus have a younger squad. Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud and Juventus midfielder Blaise Matuidi will both be aged 34, while midfielders Moussa Sissoko and N’Golo Kante and forward Antoine Griezmann will all be in their early thirties.
But key players like Kylian Mbappe, Raphael Varane and Paul Pogba should still be in their prime. And with Didier Deschamps still at the helm, France have a coaching team and a core group that have experience of winning major international tournaments. You can currently get odds of 11/2 on the world champions becoming European champions.
And there’s always this online lottery offer if you were hoping for a flutter this summer rather than next. Or for even longer odds on a big win, you could back current Euro 2021 outsiders Finland at 300/1 or take your chances with one of the teams still in the play-offs, such as Israel, Macedonia, Belarus and Bulgaria (all 2500/1 to win the tournament).
