Nations That Can Spring a Surprise in the Euro Qualifications

Like the FIFA World Cup, it happens every four years, but unlike the premier global stage competition, its organizer, UEFA, has experimented with its format in recent years. The 2021 event, titled EURO 2020, was a one-off tournament, as it represented the first European Championship where teams qualified for it outside of the standard qualification stage, and it was the second contest of its kind that featured twenty-four teams. 

On March 23rd, the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament got underway, with totalizators going crazy, as online sportsbooks saw unprecedented action coming in on qualification matches, something owed, in large part due to the spreading legalization of sports betting globally that has occurred in the past couple of years and is still happening. For the uninformed, in totalizator systems, or Tote betting, the odds of winning and their corresponding payouts do not get determined in advance. Instead, they get calculated based on the total sums of money wagered on each outcome. Hence, this significantly differs from fixed-odds betting, where the coefficients get predetermined when one places his wager. 

As most loyal football watches know, the EURO 2024 qualifying campaign has gotten set to end on March 26th, 2024, with twenty teams qualifying directly for the event from the fifty-three involved and the other four spots getting claimed via playoff games. Below, we rattle off five teams we believe could cause a massive upset in the qualifying round and line the pockets of those who take a chance betting on them against favorites.

North Macedonia

North Macedonia’s national football team, nicknamed the Lynxes, does not stand a terrific shot of attaining one of the top two spots in Group C, as Italy and England are the two front runners in this group of five that Ukraine and Malta complete. Now, while it is clear that the Gli Azzurri and The Three Lions are the odds-on favorites to easily stream-roll the other three teams in Group C, it is worth pointing out that North Macedonia has played two qualifying games in their history away in England, and has managed to pull out a draw in both. They’ve also lost their home matches against the Great Albion by only one goal. And, in the World Cup qualifiers, they knocked out Italy in the play-off round with a late away goal.

Moreover, in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, they beat Germany Away 2-1 and finished second in Group J ahead of Romania, Armenia, and Iceland. So, North Macedonia has somewhat of a history of acting as a spoiler because, despite their unheralded composition of players, they have beaten teams like Germany, Italy, Serbia, and Croatia in the past and drawn against juggernauts like the Netherlands, England, and Italy. Therefore, they should not get underestimated.

Kosovo

Kosovo is a national team that had its first-ever match in 1942 but played its first officially recognized friendly game in 2010. In 2016, it was granted acceptance into UEFA, making its debut in the 2018 World Cup qualifying tournament.

For the EURO 2024 qualification stage, Kosovo finds itself in Group I alongside Switzerland, Israel, Romania, Belarus, and Andorra. Many residents of this landlocked country (disputed by some) in Southeast Europe see this as a historic opportunity for qualification into the European Championship. The competition for the second spot in the group is not as intense as it could have been. Therefore, Kosovo upsetting the odds and securing a place in the final tournament by defeating Israel, Belarus, and Romania is a possibility. The first spot gets expected to go to the favorite, Switzerland.

An interesting trivia is that the Kosovo team gets comprised of players of Albanian heritage, just like several members of Switzerland's squad. Granit Xhaka, the renowned Swiss midfielder who plays for Arsenal, hails from Podujevo, Kosovo. Moreover, Switzerland's most capped player, Xherdan Shaqiri, has roots in Kosovo and maintains connections there.

Iceland

As likely anyone with even a drop of knowledge of geography knows, Iceland is one of Europe's least populated countries, with a population of less than 400,000 people. Yet, despite not having a substantial talent pool to draw from, this Nordic island territory can lay claim to several remarkable team sports feats.

Undoubtedly, the country's most renowned football players have been Eiður Guðjohnsen and Kolbeinn Sigþórsson. Their first major success came in 2016 when they participated in that year's EURO. Two years prior, Croatia eliminated them in the play-off round for the 2014 World Cup. However, they managed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, where they faced Argentina, becoming the smallest nation by population to secure a spot in the competition.

While Iceland has not performed as well in the past two major tournament qualifying competitions, we would not discount their potential to upset the favorites in Group J, including Portugal.

Slovakia

Slovakia also finds itself in Group J with Iceland, and it kicked off its EURO 2024 campaign with a disappointing draw at home against Luxembourg in front of thirty-five hundred fans. Despite this setback, the Slovaks railed and beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in their next duel and should have the best odds of triumphing against Portugal from the other five teams in the pack.

On paper, Slovakia has more than a decent squad comprised of players getting playing time in Serie A/B, the Premier League, the Dutch League, and the Bundesliga. Consequently, it should not be a massive shocker if they have a decent day and manage to draw or one-up Portugal en route to securing this group’s second-place spot.

Georgia

Georgia is probably the weakest team of the five listed above, and they have yet to qualify for a major international tournament. However, they have shown potential and made progress in recent years. They trashed North Macedonia 3-0 in 2022 and drew with Norway in the second game of Group A after pounding Mongolia 6-1 at home. Hence, they may have a shot of ripping points away from Scotland too, and potentially holding off Spain at home. Do not write them off.