Euro 2024: Semi-Final Predictions

After correctly backing Spain and the Netherlands in the quarter-finals but failing to pick either of the penalty shootouts, I could do with 2/2 in these semi-finals for my Superbru leaderboards!

The Euro 2024 knockouts haven't always been the most entertaining, but we're left with two very even looking semi-finals so there should be plenty of tension this week.



Here's a look at the path to the final for the remaining 4 nations along with my semi-final predictions. Feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments.

Spain vs. France

As I said in my quarter-finals article, Spain have been the best team in this tournament and my opinion hasn't changed which means I think they'll go through here. However, it's so difficult to pick against France (I wrongly backed Portugal in the QFs), and if Les Bleus can finally click in attack then this looks like a great opportunity for Kylian Mbappe since the right side of Spain's defence is set to be weakened.

I'm going to stick with my gut feeling and form though, which both suggest Spain find more joy against the French defence than other teams have had at Euro 2024. In addition to the much discussed flair we have seen from the Spanish wingers, the entire team is playing with real composure and confidence despite already arguably exceeding pre-tournament expectations, and I only see France winning if this goes to penalties or if they somehow show a huge improvement that there just hasn't really been a sign of so far. Spain 2-1 France

Netherlands vs. England

I feel obliged to pick with my heart all while England are still in this tournament (that will be tough if they make it to the final, admittedly) but I do have some genuine optimism here for the reasons I mentioned in my last piece - the Netherlands have been involved in some relatively high scoring games so far and if they give England's forwards some space to attack then we may finally see a bit more of a threat from Gareth Southgate's team.

Of course, the Dutch have been scoring plenty themselves as well, but England are a decent defensive side and Southgate is much better at working out how to deal with opposition strengths than he is at causing them problems. Don't get me wrong, there's every chance the Netherlands win this or we see another shootout (though England shouldn't fear that after their performance against Switzerland!), but I think England can win and that's what I'm going with. If England do score first, this will be far from a classic but they may well be able to see it out. Netherlands 0-1 England



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How do your semi-final picks compare?