Euro 2016 Betting: Five Best Outright Bets

The 2016 European Championship is nearing closer by the day and with national team coaches finalising their squads for the tournament finals, this feels like the right time to present you what we believe are the best outright bets for Euro 2016. Rather than backing the favourites at short odds, we have taken extra time to find markets where the bookmakers may have made a mistake, and we feel the bets featured below should give punters the best value for their money.

1.) France to reach semi-final

Odds: 5/6 (1.83) @Betfair

Having already won two major trophies on home soil, we can safely say that home advantage could be a major factor for France, who would certainly be among the main candidates for the trophy even if playing away from home. Les Bleus have been hit with several late injuries as Varane, Diarra and Mathieu had to be dropped, but they’ve got plenty of quality all over the pitch and seem to work really well as a team. On top of that, they are blessed with individual talent as the likes of Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann, Dimitri Payet and Anthony Martial can all create something out of nothing, and we feel they will have no problems reaching the last four.

2.) Switzerland to finish 2nd in Group A

Odds: 13/10 (2.30) @Betfair

Switzerland are a side that have progressed a great deal of late and they impressed at the 2014 World Cup finals. The Rossocrociati have since performed at a high level and with their key men playing for top European clubs, the team stand a good chance of enjoying success in France. And while they might not be able to match Les Bleus, Switzerland are miles ahead of both Romania and Albania in terms of quality and experience, and we believe they will ease off to the second place in group A. Nati may have struggled in final warm-up games, but they can be trusted to prove their worth at the tournament finals.

3.) Northern Ireland to finish bottom of Group C

Odds: 5/8 (1.62) @bet365

Group C features three very good sides in Germany, Poland and Ukraine, but then we also have Northern Ireland, who clearly do not belong here. The Green and White Army somehow managed to progress from what was the easiest group in the Euro 2016 Qualifying, but we just don’t see how they are going to match other sides in Group C. Michael O’Neill’s side can be trusted to work hard in an attempt to frustrate their more illustrious opponents, but high working rate alone will not be enough to compensate for the obvious lack of quality, so we have absolutely no doubts that Northern Ireland will finish bottom of the group.

4.) Turkey to qualify from Group D

Odds: 4/5 (1.80) @Coral

Turkey didn’t have such an easy job qualifying for the tournament finals, but successive wins over Netherlands, Czech Republic and Iceland were enough to suggest that Fatih Terim’s side have reason to hope for a successful Euro 2016 tournament. Milli Takim have become famous for exceeding expectations at major competitions, and having also defeated Sweden and Austria in March friendlies, they arrive in France in good mood. Turkey boast an impressive midfield area with Arda Turan, Hakan Calhanoglu and Selcuk Inan, and taking into account that both Czech Republic and Croatia are far from the desired form, we believe they will qualify for the knockout stages.

5.) Portugal to win Group F

Odds: 10/11 (1.91) @WilliamHill

After narrowly missing out on the Euro 2012 final, Portugal will be hoping to mount a serious title challenge in France, and they appear to be in a good position to do so. Fernando Santos has built a very good squad that is packed with both talent and experience, and there are no doubts that Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo will be eager to lead his country to glory. The Selecao have performed well in the final warm-up games, and they’ve got great strength in depth in spite of several injuries, so we seriously doubt Austria, Iceland or Hungary have what it takes to prevent them from finishing top of Group F.