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In this football language podcast we look ahead to the 2024 Euros and try and predict the winners. Which teams are favourites? Dark horses? Who will win the Golden Boot? Which team will be the biggest flops? You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.
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Learn English Through Football Podcast: Euro 2024 – Preview and Predictions
DF: You’re listening to Languagecaster.com’s football-language podcast. Hello everyone and welcome to the show for everyone who wants to practice their English and who loves the beautiful game of football. My name is Damian and I am one half of the Languagecaster team, the other of course is Damon who is based in Tokyo, Japan and we’ll be hearing from him a little later on in the show.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in French)
So, the domestic seasons in Europe have finished and football fans are now turning their attention to the 2024 European Championship (the Euros); and these are taking place in Germany. On this podcast we are going to look ahead to this competition and look at some of the favourites, the dark horses and the possible flops of the tournament. We’ll also give a few predictions and remember that you can join our Predictions competition by simply coming along to our site and clicking on the Euro24 page.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Dutch).
Introduction
Yes, that message was in Dutch and of course the Netherlands will be taking part in this year’s tournament. All of the stingers on today’s show will be from countries that are participating in the Euros. Can you guess what languages they are? We are interested in getting some more languages for our stinger collection: I wonder if we can we get languages from all of the 24 participating nations? We’d love to hear from Portuguese and Albanian speakers (and Swiss and Belgian and Croatian and Serbian and…)
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in German).
Some Numbers
This will be the 17th edition of the European Championship – the first one took place in 1960 when there were only four teams taking part. In 1980 the format changed with eight teams now taking part and this continued until 1996 in England when there were 16 teams participating. Interestingly, West Germany/Germany won in both 1980 and 1996. The tournament expanded again three years ago to 24 teams – remember that the competition was held a year later than planned due to Covid. Do you remember who were the winners from 2021? That’s right, Italy beat England on penalties and so are the current holders. Italy have won the title on two occasions but they are not the most successful – do you know which team this is? Yes, Germany and Spain both have three titles, while France have two and the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Greece and Czechoslovakia all have one title each.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Italian fan)
Favourites
Well, many pundits are suggesting that this could be one of the most difficult tournaments to predict as any one of eight or nine teams could win it. However, the two main favourites are France and Portugal who have squads full of amazing players with lots of experience. Portugal of course defeated France in the final to win the 2016 Euros ,while France won the World Cup in 2018 and were runners-up in the same competition four years later. But we also tipped these two to do well last time out (in 2021) but both of them went out in the last 16: France were defeated by Switzerland on penalties and Portugal lost 1-0 to Belgium. France don’t have the easiest of groups but with three teams more or less guaranteed to qualify they might end up facing another of the favourites England in the semi-finals. A year ago, many people were tipping England but lots of injuries to key defenders and a drop in form means that there is not such a positive feel about the side now. Their front six looks great but there are questions about their defence. I am not so sure about England – semi-final would be great but I don’t think they’ll make it.
Other teams that are fancied include Spain and the Netherlands who have both hit good form recently. Spain had a disappointing World Cup but they seem to be more adventurous in their play now which should give them an edge though they are playing in a really tough group: they will face holders Italy, Croatia and Albania. The Dutch have also been improving and they feel they can go further than the quarter-finals of the last World Cup when they were beaten on penalties by winners Argentina. They have a tough group with the French, the Polish and the Austrians but I think they will do well in this year’s tournament. Belgium have been tipped by many in the past few tournaments (both World Cup and Euros) but for this year’s edition they have not been receiving so much interest. They play in Group E with Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine so they should easily qualify for the knock-out stages. After that? I am not sure – possibly quarter finalists. And how about the hosts Germany? Six months ago few gave them any hope but their new manager and some impressive friendly wins (including against France) means there is a lot of interest in them. I think they will do very well – maybe finalists or even possible winners.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Danish fan)
That was from a Denmark supporter. Let’s have a listen to what Damon thinks about the tournament. He starts off with the favourites.
Damon’s Predictions
Euro 2024! The format maybe includes more teams than when I was younger but this is still a great tournament with quality teams. So who do I think is going to win? Well, England are popular in the betting market, and Germany are playing at home and are also ranked highly in the FIFA rankings, but I’m going with France. They’ve got a team full of experience, lots of stardust, and a good mix of dependable players. So, France to win the whole thing just like they did in 2000. For a dark horse, I’m going for one of the Eastern European countries, Croatia. Why? Because I like their shirt, and they’re pretty good! Maybe Luka Modric can shake off his age one more time to inspire them to go deep in the tournament. Now, what about a flop? Last tournament it was France, who I’ve tipped to win this time, and I think in 2024 it will be the Netherlands, who are in a tricky group with France, Poland, and Austria, and often implode in big competitions. They flattered to deceive in qualifying and may struggle. Top scorer – who knows? But as I’ve picked France to win, I’ll go with Mbappe. And finally, surprise result in the tournament, I’m going for a penalty shoot out win for England against anybody!
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Hungarian fan)
Dark Horses
Thanks for that Damon. Now, let’s have a look at some dark horses. A dark horse is a team that is not among the heavy favourites before a tournament but still many people feel that they might do quite well. For the past couple of tournaments people have been tipping Turkey as dark horses but they have then flopped badly – they failed to make it out of the group three years ago. I know that some are tipping Croatia to go far and that the Czech Republic (Czechia) could spring a few surprises but I am going for Austria to do well. They are under former Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick and he has converted them into a pressing team which means they will be fun to watch and may cause some of the bigger teams some real problems. They have a difficult group but I think they’ll get out of it and then who knows?
Flops and Top Scorer
Well, we’ve just heard Damon saying that the Netherlands are going to be the flops of the tournament but I think I will go for England – I am not confident at all. They have lost experienced defenders and I wonder if they’ll even get out of the group. As for a top scorer? Well, I would go for Harry Kane but that depends on England going far. Maybe Alvaro Morata might hit form for Spain or maybe Memphis Depay who looks good in this Dutch forward line.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (German fan)
Predictions
Who do you think is going to do well in the tournament? We are running another Languagecaster Predictions Competition in which you can take on Damon, myself and many other football fans. Simply register or log in (for free) and then add your scores. It is three points for a win and one for the right result and this time we are also going to have jokers (where you can double your points) and there’s a couple of bonus questions too – simply write down which team you think will win the Euros and which player will be the top scorer under the bonus questions. Now the jokers. For example, if you play a joker in the opening game between Germany and Scotland and you predict a Germany 2-0 win and the final score is 2-0 you will double your points (3 points for the correct score x 2= 6). And if the game finishes 1-0 to Germany then you will receive two points (1 point for the correct result x 2 = 2 points). Each player has three jokers across the whole tournament – so play them with care. And we will also have some small prizes for the top three finishers. Good luck everyone!
Language of Predictions Language of Predictions 2
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Spanish fan)
Glossary
DF: Yes, you are listening to languagecaster.com, and that message was from a Spanish fan. Remember, that here at Languagecaster’s site you can find out more about some of the words and phrases that we have already discussed today, along with hundreds more football-language expressions. Come along to our football-language glossary and take a look.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Turkish).
Contact
DF: OK, if you have any questions or comments about any of the language from today or indeed any other football language then drop us an email at admin@languagecaster.com. You can also look out for us on social media – we’ve just posted lots and lots of our podcasts on YouTube; we also have a football-language forum where you can ask and answer any questions you have on the language of football. And of course, don’t forget to subscribe to our football-language podcasts. We have recently posted podcasts around lots of different phrases including, ‘the standings‘ and Damon looked at some phrase with the word, ‘heavy‘. (heavy tackle; heavy touch and heavy favourites). You can access these and all of our other football-language podcasts at Languagecaster.com.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Polish).
Goodbye
DF: That message was in Polish. Now, how about the other ones? Well, we have had Hungarian, , Turkish, Dutch, Italian, Spanish and French throughout the show – we’d love to hear from more languages from this year’s European Championship – send us on an audio!
OK, don’t forget there’s a transcript for this podcast with lots of vocabulary support – come along and have a look. OK, that’s it for this podcast in which we looked ahead to the Euro 24 tournament. Let us know if you hear any of the phrases from today’s show in any language. Let us know which teams you think will do well, which ones are your dark horses, who will be the flops and who is going to be the golden boot winner? Enjoy all the football this week and we’ll be back soon with some more football language. Bye bye!
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