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Group F in Euro 2016 features Portugal, Austria, Iceland and Hungary, a line-up of teams that most fans might not have expected to see at the start of qualification.
Portugal, with the talismanic Cristiano Ronaldo are the favourites with the bookies to win Group F, and with some of Europe’s biggest names in their squad, it’s not hard to see why. They start their Euro 2016 campaign on June 14th against Iceland at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne. Portugal qualified for Euro 2016 by winning Group I, overcoming Albania, Denmark, Serbia and Armenia, losing only once, scoring 11 goals and conceding 5.
Austria, second favourites to win Group F, start their tournament off on June 14th against Hungary at Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux in, of course, Bordeaux. Austria came through qualifying by winning Group G with an exceptional record, winning nine games, drawing one and losing none. The Austrians scored 22 goals and conceded five. It was an amazing qualification record, in a group consisting of Russia, Sweden, Montenegro, Liechtenstein and Moldova.
Third favourites in Group F, and one of the surprised package in qualification for Euro 2016 is Iceland. Iceland’s first match of Euro 2016 is against Portugal on June 14th at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne. Iceland qualified for Euro 2016 by finishing second in Group A behind the Czech Republic and ahead of Turkey, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan and Latvia. Iceland’s success was built on a solid defence, conceding six goals, while scoring 17.
Hungary, the outsiders in Group F, are another surprise package, and have definitely been helped by the expansion of the competition. Their first game at Euro 2016 is against Austria at Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux. To qualify for Euro 2016, Hungary came through the playoffs, beating Norway 3-1 on aggregate, after finishing third in Group F behind Northern Ireland and Romania, finishing ahead of Finland, the Faroe Islands and Greece.
Group F Winners Betting Odds:
Portugal: 1.83, 5/6, -120
Austria: 3.25, 9/4, +225
Iceland: 6.0, 5/1, +500
Hungary: 13.0, 12/1, +1200
Group F Winners Betting Tips:
Group F is definitely one of the most open groups in the entire competition, as there’s no real standout team in the group that you think will run away with it. Sure, Portugal have the big names in their squad, none bigger than Cristiano Ronaldo, but the team has been on the wane for some time, and their qualification record, although good on bare form, when you delve deeper into it, it’s not great. A lot of low-scoring contests sums up their qualification form
Instead, the value here is definitely Austria to win Group F. The Austrians went undefeated in qualification, put four past Sweden away, which accounts for four of the nine goals Sweden conceded during qualification, and have Marc Janko to bang in the goals. In fact, the most impressive thing here is that Austria won every away game, including the hostile environments of Russia and Montenegro. 9/4 is a huge price for a side that is bursting with confidence, especially when consider how open this group is.
Iceland are worth a second look, although it’s hard to judge their qualification form as they dropped points to the Czechs, and Turkey, which is fair enough, but then couldn’t beat Latvia and Kazakhstan at home, but beat the Dutch home and away.
Group F Qualifiers Betting Odds:
Portugal: 1.1, 1/10, -1000
Austria: 1.22, 2/9, -450
Iceland: 1.62, 8/13, -162
Hungary: 2.38, 11/8, +137
Group F Qualifiers Betting Tips:
For me, qualification is a three-horse race here, as I don’t think Hungary have the class to compete with three classy sides in Portugal, Austria and Iceland. As we’re going for Austria win win Group F, it leaves it between Portugal and Iceland for that second place. The odds on Portugal to qualify are terrible here, and I’d much rather side with Iceland to qualify from Group F, as I don’t trust an average Portugal side at anorexic prices. Iceland’s defence is tight, and they’re going to make it difficult to break them down. Portugal usually fail to live up to the hype, and I can see that happening here again. In fact, if you shop around, you can find prices of around 6/1 (+600, 7.0) for Portugal not to qualify, which might look great come the end of June.
