19/06/2023【Feature】Stuart Pearce – U21 EURO group winner analysis

Stuart Pearce is one of the best defenders in the history of Nottingham Forest and English football. He won 78 caps for England between 1987 and 1999. Also, he was the manager of England U21 and guided them to the final of the 2009 U21 EURO.

Heavyweights to reach quarter-finals

Unsurprisingly, I expect Portugal to win Group A, but behind them it’s a battle for second place between the Netherlands and Belgium, while it’ll be tough for co-hosts Georgia. It’s a massive opening game between the Dutch and Belgium and I’d say the winner will advance. It’ll be close, but I feel the Netherlands will edge it.

Spain are the clear favourites in Group B and they’ll be happy with the draw as they’ll expect to win all three games. Below them, Ukraine, Croatia and co-hosts Romania will all believe they have a chance. Romania haven’t played any competitive matches for a long time, so I don’t see them progressing. That means the opening game between Ukraine and Croatia will be key, and I’m going for the Ukrainians to finish as runners-up.

England and Germany should make it out of Group C. The English twice beat Czech Republic in qualifying and the Germans did likewise with Israel, so it’d be a big surprise if either of them was eliminated. As for the group winners, I’ll go with my heart and say England, but there won’t be much in it. So, England top and Germany advancing in second place.

Group D is very interesting because three of the teams won their groups in qualifying while Switzerland also qualified as the highest-placed runner-up, so there are four strong teams competing for two quarter-final places. If they all play to their capabilities, I see France coming out on top and Italy taking the runners-up spot, but Norway and Switzerland can make life difficult for them. The Norwegians and the Swiss face off in their opener and the winner will challenge the group heavyweights.