Nevin backs England and France for Euro 2024 glory

England and France must be considered as the favourites to win Euro 2024, so says Pat Nevin.

Both Les Bleus and the Three Lions topped their respective groups, scoring 51 goals between them and going unbeaten in the process.

Gareth Southgate’s side kick-off their tournament campaign at the Arena AufSchalke against Serbia on June 16, while Kylian Mbappe will lead the French out for the first time at a major tournament against Austria the following evening.

The two sides last faced off at the Qatar World Cup in 2022, with Didier Deschamps masterminding a quarter-final triumph to extend their winning record at major tournaments over England to three matches.

Speaking ahead of the tournament, Nevin, who represented Scotland for a decade between 1986 and 1996, believes that both teams are favourites to lift the trophy on July 14, but pinpointed one major factor that could decide either sides’ fate.

“I think there are two favourites. I think they’re joint, just about, but it’s England and it is France,” Nevin told Stats Perform.

“The French are pretty spectacular. Their second XI would go far in this tournament, they’re that good. They’ve got that much quality, and they’ve been there and done that before.

The French players who have been called up for EURO 2024 #BleuCollectif | #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/svAdmZMbuX

— French Team (@FrenchTeam) May 16, 2024

“England, middle to front, are off the scale. And all the types of players that England could never develop before, the creatives. They’re there, they’ve finally arrived.

“Foden and Cole Palmer are there, and you’ve got [Jude] Bellingham as well. Harry Kane is probably the most complete centre-forward in world football. I always say to people, see if you put Kane for the last 10 years at Manchester City as centre-forward, he’d probably outscore [Erling] Haaland.

“So, with that up front, if I could only say one thing, I think to win championships, you’ve got to be brave. That is what you need to be. When you watch the Man City’s, etc of the world, it’s about attacking, it’s about positive play. If England does that, I’ll put them as favourites. I don’t think they will, so it’s France.”