5 football predictions for the year 2020

#2 England will not win Euro 2020

Can Gareth Southgate lead England to glory at Euro 2020?

Gareth Southgate’s England have been installed as one of the favourites to win this summer’s European Championship tournament, and with good reason; the Three Lions waltzed through their qualifying group for the competition, scoring 37 goals along the way, they made it to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and the inaugural UEFA Nations League, and they’ve been given a favourable draw at the tournament, with a winnable group and most of their matches to be played at home at Wembley.

So can Southgate’s men actually win their first trophy since the 1966 World Cup? My prediction is no. England will almost certainly qualify for the knockout stages; Group D doesn’t sound too troubling as they beat the Czech Republic in qualifying and beat Croatia in the Nations League, and they shouldn’t be troubled by Scotland, Serbia, Norway or Israel.

Unfortunately, winning their group puts them in line to play the runner-up of the horrific-sounding Group F – which includes Portugal, France and Germany – and while it’s within the realm of possibility that the Three Lions could win that game, based on current evidence it’s just hard to see them defeating multiple top-level teams in this tournament.

If Southgate plays his cards right it’s possible, but sadly for England fans, he still needs to find a settled – and more robust – defence, and also needs to select the correct options in midfield in order to avoid the issues that plagued the Three Lions in their losses to Croatia and the Netherlands. It’s not impossible, but there’s every chance he fails to do both.

England have undoubtedly improved massively under Southgate, and arguably have the most dangerous attack in the world, but their fans may have to wait until the 2022 World Cup for that elusive trophy.