8. Iceland
THE RANK OUTSIDERS, if winning tournaments was all down to organisation and team spirit, few could match Iceland. Still, despite the unlikely England win, it would be a much bigger shock if they progressed at the expense of France on Sunday.
7. Wales
A decent, workmanlike side with two particularly good players in Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey. Are they any worse than the Greece team that won the competition in 2004?
6. Poland
There’s more to Poland than Bayern Munich superstar Robert Lewandowski, as the striker’s barren run in front of goal has proven. Jakub Blaszczykowski, Arkadiusz Milik and Grzegorz Krychowiak are among the more underrated players left in the competition.
5. Portugal
Yes, this Portugal side have flattered to deceive at times, but of course, any team with Cristiano Ronaldo in the side cannot be ruled out, while the likes of Renato Sanches, João Mário, Jose Fonte and William Carvalho aren’t bad either. They also knocked out tournament dark horses Croatia and will also fancy their chances against a Poland side that are far from the best team in the competition.
4. Belgium
Have often been accused of being a side less than the sum of their parts, and this criticism was reinforced after Belgium’s opening 2-0 loss against Italy. Nonetheless, since then, they appear to have gelled, and boast some of the best individual players left in the competition in the form of Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne among others.
3. Italy
Despite limitations in attack, Italy arguably have the best defence in the competition and are consequently perfectly set up for tournament football, given their unparalleled solidity. If they can get past Germany in the quarters, they will surely fancy themselves to go all the way.
2. Germany
Tipped as one of the favourites for the competition in the lead up to the tournament, Germany’s group stage displays were a little underwhelming, however, they really appeared to pick up their performance level amid a 3-0 defeat of Slovakia in the round of 16.
1. France
There remains a feeling that they have yet to fully click, but France have so many options both in the starting XI and on the bench, with the changes against Ireland making a big difference to their performance. Antoine Griezmann looked very sharp last Sunday, and Dimitri Payet has shown his class more than once, while there is a sense that there’s more to come from the likes of Paul Pogba, Blaise Matuidi and Kingsley Coman. A shaky-looking defence is perhaps the biggest potential obstacle between the team and glory.
