Supercomputer tips England as Euro 2024 favourites: Gareth Southgate's men predicted to triumph

England are heading into a major international tournament as the outright favourites, raising hopes that the 58-year-long wait for football to come home may finally be over.

After a heart-wrenching penalty shootout defeat in the European Championships at Wembley Stadium back in 2021, Gareth Southgate and his squad have been tantalisingly close to ultimate success. They've reached the semi-final and quarter-final stages of the two World Cups sandwiched around their Euros heartbreak three years ago.

Southgate has taken a blend of fresh talent and seasoned stars to Germany for the tournament. A host of players are set to make their major tournament debuts for England, including Chelsea's Cole Palmer, Manchester United's Kobbie Mainoo, Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon and Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton, all eager to make their mark.

Harry Kane will once again spearhead England's attack as captain, with Jordan Pickford, Kieran Trippier, Luke Shaw and John Stones all preparing for their fourth major tournament with the national team. Notably absent from the squad are Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish, James Maddison and Harry Maguire, with Maguire ruled out due to a calf injury before the squad jetted off to Germany for their training camp.

Despite the setback of losing Maguire, England are still tipped as favourites to win Euro 2024, according to Opta's pre-tournament prediction model. The Three Lions have been given a 19.9% chance of lifting the Henri Delaunay trophy on July 14 in Berlin, reports Football London.

Opta's prediction model provides a comprehensive view of the tournament outcome by estimating the probability of each match result - win, draw or loss - using betting market odds and team rankings.

These odds and rankings are derived from historical and recent team performances. The model then factors in opponent strength and the difficulty of their route to the final, using match outcome probabilities that consider group composition and seedings into the knockout stages.

While England are favourites, it's a close call with France, managed by Didier Deschamps, who ousted them from the 2022 World Cup. Les Bleus have been given a 19.1% chance of winning, just 0.8% less than Gareth Southgate's side.

Interestingly, the Opta model predicts a semi-final showdown between the two nations in almost half of all simulations, with England having a 48.2% chance of reaching the final four compared to France's 48.1%.

Germany, the hosts, are just behind with a 12.4% chance of clinching the tournament on home turf, their first Euros win since 1996. They've been given a 36.5% chance of making it to the semi-finals, slightly ahead of Portugal's 33.6% and Spain's 32.3%.

Interestingly, even though Spain has a lower probability of reaching the semi-finals than Portugal, they have a higher likelihood of making it to the finals and winning the tournament. The odds are 9.6% for Spain and 9.2% for Portugal.

The Netherlands and Italy both stand a 5% chance of taking home the trophy. Scotland, on the other hand, were given an 8.5% chance of reaching the semi-finals and a mere 1% chance of causing the biggest international football upset since Greece in 2004.