UEFA EURO 2016: The Home Nations

So, the Euros are going to be particularly interesting for our home nations, as four out of five qualified (sorry Scotland) for the contest in France.

While you can pretty much bank on England making an appearance (let’s just forget about 2008), for the other nations it’s not quite been so successful – Republic of Ireland are in their second consecutive Euro Tournament, but it’s also been 14 years since their last World Cup appearance.

Both Wales and Northern Ireland are making their debuts in the tournament this time round – and while you can’t quite say they benefited from the expansion of teams participating (Northern Ireland won their qualifier group and Wales were runners-up in theirs), it’s going to be interesting to see how these two fare.

So what can we expect from each over the next month?

ENGLAND:
Previous Euro Appearances – 1968, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012

England’s squad, as they board the plane to France.

Unlike the World Cup, England have yet to win the European Championship – although it was during the 1996 tournament at home where the Three Lions had their best post-1966 World Cup finishing position, ending the tournament in 3rd.

England have, time after time, headed to these tournaments with exceedingly high expectations (continually looking for the follow-up from the 1966 victory) – but have fallen short every time. Sometimes the performance has still been very good, and sometimes it’s been disappointing. The kicker for devoted England fans is the now “50 Years of Hurt”. They continue to question just how much longer they must wait – and it doesn’t look like it’ll change within the next month or two.

Simply put, England’s performance at the World Cup in Brazil was awful. Group of Death aside, being knocked out of the group stages without a single win was a poor showing – but it led to a push for new, younger talent (which was also benefited from a season like the one we had, which showed Jamie Vardy’s skill for example).

Realistically, England should try to target the quarter finals – perhaps the semis. That could be considered a good push for the future.

WALES
Previous Euro Appearances – None (reached round before Euro competition in 1976)

Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale has been a high-profile performer for Wales.

For the first time since 1958, Wales are appearing in a major tournament. While some may contest Wales took part in Euro 1976, the actual tournament was only for the four teams the made the Semi-Finals – Wales were knocked out in the Quarter-Finals, thus technically weren’t part of Euro 1976.

While it takes a team to shine, no one can doubt the one who shines brightest is Gareth Bale – signed from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid back in 2013, the Welshman’s stock has risen dramatically.

Manager Chris Coleman’s only worry however is “complacency” within the team – Wales have only won one of their last seven games; their most recent match being a 3-0 loss to fellow Euro 2016 competitors Sweden.

The team are currently 26th in the FIFA World Rankings, third of the four home nations we’re looking at, but they’re also in the same group as England. They’ll play each other in their second match next Thursday at 2PM. Imagine all the people not doing work, watching the game instead… (boss, we promise we won’t do this… *ahem*).

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Previous Euro Appearances – 1988, 2012

Republic of Ireland qualified for the 2nd successive Euro Tournament; their third overall.

This will be the third time the Republic of Ireland appear in the Euros, having previously made the group stages in 1988 and 2012 – albeit being knocked out both times at that level.

However, that may not be the case again if they repeat their 1988 position of third in the group – due to the new structure being used in 2016, finishing third will be good enough for 4 out of the 6 teams that end up there to get through to the knockout stages.

It gives Republic of Ireland a good shout to get to the knockout stages – but as the lowest ranked of the nations we’re looking at here, there’ll be work to do – let alone the fact the team only got through by winning their play-off match in the qualifiers.

NORTHERN IRELAND
Previous Euro Appearances – None

Northern Ireland qualified for their first ever Euro tournament as group winners.

For Northern Ireland, it’s their first ever appearance in the Euro competition – and they did it in style, winning their qualifier group. In fact, such has been their performance in recent times they’re ranked 25th in the world – second only to England in this preview.

They could potentially face an uphill struggle, as would be expected for a first-timer team: in their group they face World Champions Germany, as well as Ukraine and Poland (co-hosts of the previous Euro Tournament) who, while limited in experience at this level, still have more than Northern Ireland.

That said, group runners-up is not out of the question either: with Ukraine & Poland both close to Northern Ireland on the rankings (and by performance in the qualifiers), there’s a chance for the knockout rounds – it all depends on how well they can play those two, and if they could somehow get something from Germany (even a point there would be a great result).

There’s four teams to cheer on – but with 20 others making the biggest Euro tournament, it’s going to be more difficult than ever to try and reach the trophy.

Ashley Redman
Sorry Scotland, we still love you!