With Chelsea lifting the Champions League trophy it marks the end of the club season and our attention turns to the International stage for Euro 2020.

International tournaments are always exciting and this time we have a lot to look forward to. rance are no doubt the favourites, only improving since their World Cup victory in 2018. There are no weak spots in the side and what do we need to say about the likes of Mbappe and Kante that hasn’t already been said. Les Bleus do find themselves in the toughest group with Germany, Portugal and Hungary, but if they can make it through the group you would have to fancy their chances of reaching the final.

Portugal are the team that beat France in the final in 2016 and yet again they have a very good team who will be full of confidence after winning the previous two Europan tournaments if we include the Nations League.

A lot of eyes will also be on England who surprised many with their young squad at the World Cup. England have a lot of young talent who will all be hoping to make a name for themselves on the international stage after already doing so in their domestic leagues and the Champions League. Players like Phil Foden, Mason Mount, Reece James and Jadon Sancho will be ones to keep an eye on and it will be interesting to see how far they can go this time.

This could be the last chance of glory for Belgium’s ‘golden generation’ after they narrowly missed out to eventual winners France at the World Cup in 2018. You would expect Belgium to reach the later stages but the big question is can they overcome the bigger nations in those final hurdles before the final. They had a perfect record in qualifying, as did Italy who you can never write off in the big tournaments.

The Netherlands missed out in 2016 so will be back to prove a point this time. For Holland it’s always the same aspect and story. They have a lot of talent mixed with experience in the team that have a great chance of rising to a high level with the likes of Georgino Wijnaldum, Frankie de Jong and Ryan Gravenberch.

The only downside I think, and it has been for some time, is that Holland always want to win so everyone can say they played the most beautiful football ever.

If you look at the players you should know they are good individuals and will be winning games but even they would understand if you make sure it is made clear to them over and over that the result is what they talk about at the end. If it’s not it will be another story of a good team, but one that just lacked the killer instinct. 

Spain and Germany might not have the masses of talent that have had in recent years but you could never write them off either, while dark horses like Poland, Turkey and Denmark could make things really interesting.

With kick off just over a week away it’s an exciting time for football fans as we head into summer. #mmlove