Ranking KO Teams 16-9

I take a look at who I think will win the European Championships based on what I have seen so far and the depth and quality of each side. I will rank each side on who I think is favourite starting with 16th and making my way down to who I feel will win the whole tournament. Who will it be, a dark horse, a favourite, or maybe one our own home nations, who ranks where on my list?

#16 - Iceland

There is no disrespect to Iceland they have been absolutely exceptional for a country as small as them. The fact they have been unbeaten so far is just magnificent but they do not have the depth in the squad and they do face an England side with much to prove and the fact there is no reason to settle for a draw means the game could be more open to exploit Iceland weaknesses.

#15 - Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland were one of the biggest underdogs going into this tournament, alongside, Hungary, Iceland and Albania, but somehow three of those went through and Albania only missed out through the complicated best third-placed teams rule. They do have the best tie out of the three of those underdogs in playing Wales but the fact they have to face Bale and co in the last 16 and then probably Belgium in the next round, makes there task a little harder. They narowly lost to Poland and Germany but lost and were battered against the world champions and I just cannot see them going far without much quality in the side.

#14 - Slovakia

Pretty average in the group stage, Slovakia have played their way through a group that is not great but competitive. They were battered by England and did defend well to be fair to them, and against Russia they were good despite the late pressure. They may have been okay, but a last 16 tie against Germany has really suffered a blow to their chances of even reaching a quarter final.

#13 - Republic of Ireland

They have not been great until that final group game against Italy. They were by far the better team and deserved their place in the last 16. They may have showed their class but they still have possibly the hardest route to the final of any team. France, England, Germany, Belgium is their likely route and winning one would a huge achievement. I think they have more quality than the teams I have already listed but with a set of fixtures that they have they surely cannot go far.

#12 - Hungary

The best of the underdogs so far in terms of there being a lack of fear in the squad, makes everyone love them. They remind me of the Blackpool team from their season in the Premier League, they were the biggest underdog and they didn't sit back. They could cause problems for an inconsistent Belgium team but they should still have less quality when penetrating the oppositions defence. I love the way they place and how exciting their games are, but they have not played someone as good as Belgium yet so they shouldn't get past The Red Devils.

#11 - Switzerland

They may deserve better than eleventh place but I have put them here solely on the fact they are slightly inconsistent, as seen in the qualifying when they didn't challenge England enough and then they just don't seem to gel as much as they should when seeing their line-up. Shaqiri has not been good enough, Ricardo Rodriguez should have used this tournament as a marketing tool to put himself on the radar of clubs to think he is one of the best full backs out there, but hasn't been himself. However, if their stars put on a good performance, they could surprise a few.

#10 - Wales

They may not have been favourites but Chris Coleman has been fantastic in setting up his side with the players they have. Bale has been dragging this team forward in peoples thoughts of how they might go but in fact they have been such a good team as a unit, Joe Allen has been fantastic and Aaron Ramsey has been the key to unlocking sides with passes and runs into the final third, something we don't see enough at Arsenal but himself and Bale as the stars of the side could take the side anywhere but if they face Belgium and Croatia in the further rounds they may not have enough, but could be a dark horse.

#9 - Portugal

They have been poor, not even registering a single win in qualifying for the knock-out stage, something no one else did. The fact they have a good young group of players is not showing, Ronaldo was poor up until the final game where he showed his true class and Nani has been good in places, but the rest have not really shown their quality, Pepe needs to be the leader of the team and assure the defence of safety and Fernando Santos needs to quickly revamp the security of the back-line. They play Vieirinha at right-back and they should really stick Cedric in there and also replace veteran Carvalho with Fonte and then Guerreiro back in for Eliseu. That back four then may have a chance of keeping out the impressive midfield passes of Croatia. Unless they do that, they will not get very far.