Lineker Gives His Euro 24 Prediction
Former England strikers Shearer and Lineker tip their Euro24 winners
Former England striker and Match of the Day host Gary Lineker has just thrown a curveball by breaking a 20-year tradition with his Euro 2024 prediction. As the 24 teams set to battle it out for European glory begin to land in Germany, excitement is reaching fever pitch ahead of the tournament opener between the hosts and Scotland on Friday night.
Italy might be the reigning champs after their dramatic penalty shootout win over England at Wembley in 2021, but they’re not the hot favourites this time around. Instead, all eyes are on World Cup finalists France, the ever-hopeful England, and the determined hosts, Germany.
France gave England a tough time on their way to the 2022 World Cup final, only to face heartbreak in a penalty shootout against Argentina in an epic showdown in Qatar.
England, meanwhile, has been on a thrilling ride, making it to the latter stages of the last two World Cups and almost grabbing their first major trophy since 1966 in the last Euros. With Gareth Southgate likely having one final shot to end 58 years of hurt, Lineker is daring to dream. For the first time since 2004, he’s backing the Three Lions to roar to victory.
Remember Euro 2004? That’s when Lineker last tipped England for glory, only for them to get knocked out in the quarter-finals by Portugal.
‘People say to me, “you always pick England, you always do” – I haven’t tipped England to win a tournament since 2004,’ Lineker confessed on The Rest is Football podcast.
‘But this time, I actually think England will go all the way. Obviously, it’s a knockout tournament, so things can go wrong, but I think we will win one of the next four tournaments because this team is only going to get better and better.’
Lineker’s podcast buddy, Micah Richards, who wore the England shirt 13 times, reckons Southgate has the ‘best team’ heading into the Euros but still sees France as the ‘favourites’.
‘I would say France are the favourites just because of the way they set up,’ he said. ‘I think England have better individuals, but if France get it going, they will be hard to beat. But in terms of individual quality, I think England have the best team going into the Euros, and I don’t think I’ve said that for a while. With a little bit of luck, they can definitely do it.’
Premier League legend Alan Shearer is buzzing with excitement about the Three Lions and says this is the best chance England has had to win a major tournament in men’s football for a ‘long, long time’.
‘I think we should be super excited about this team,’ Shearer said. ‘The front half of that team is incredible; there’s so much talent. We should be really, really excited. They can win this tournament, no doubt about that. I think it’s important we go for it because we shouldn’t be afraid of anyone. This is our best chance for a long, long time.’
England kicks off their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on Sunday. Next up, they face Denmark and Slovenia, looking to power through to the knockout stages from Group C.