Euro 2012: Ranking the Finalists with Their Odds of Winning

After the recent spate of international friendlies, many people are looking to gauge their team's performance and assess their chances in the upcoming Euro 2012 Championships that will be played in Poland and Ukraine.

A number of teams have already secured their passage into the finals, whilst a few more are still trying to make it by way of the playoffs. 

This article looks at which teams are the current favourites by nature of the odds offered on them. All odds shown are taken from WilliamHill.com and are correct at time of writing.

Playoffs

The following teams have all yet to secure a place in the finals and are set to decide their fate through the playoffs.

Despite the uncertainty of who will progress, bookmakers are still backing some teams heavily.

Bosnia and Herzigovina v Portugal

I think this will be the last stop for Bosnia and Herzigovina and I would be surprised if they managed to beat Portugal. Portugal are the clear favourites and have odds to win the whole competition at 22/1 making them the eighth favourites outright.

Czech Republic v Montenegro

This is undoubtedly one of the tightest playoff matchups to call, but my money is on the Czech Republic to advance. I don't hold out much hope for their campaign in general though and odds of 80/1 are available making them 16th favourites.

Estonia v Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland will be confident going into this game after Estonia finished 10 points behind league winners Italy in their respective group. Ireland are another team that won't progress far though and are currently 15th favourites at 66/1.

Turkey v Croatia

Croatia are the bookmakers favourite to progress from this one at 40/1 making them the 10th ranked team in the competition. I think they'll find Turkey a tough nut to crack.

Co-Hosts Ukraine and Poland

To put it bluntly co-hosts Ukraine and Poland have no chance of winning Euro 2012 and they will be hoping that their home field advantage may aid them in reaching a respectable point in the competition.

Poland first made their Euro debut in 2008 but were highly unimpressive and failed to win a game in the finals before being sent home.

Poland's World Cup 2010 qualification attempt was their worst ever with five losses, two draws and three victories. I'm not convinced that they would even have qualified for this tournament if they hadn't have been hosting it.

English bookmakers William Hill certainly don't fancy them to win the competition and they have long odds on offer at 50/1 which puts them joint 11th.

Ukraine also have a similarly weak chance of winning. Over reliance on the aging Andriy Shevchenko is a real problem for them and this marks their first time in European Competition.

Having to be hosts in order to feature in your first ever European Championships says it all.

William Hill are offering 33/1 which I think is a waste of time considering this puts them at ninth favourite.

Denmark

It's been 20 years since Denmark won a European Championship after clinching the 1992 competition held in Sweden.

Since that time, their team has had mixed results and fortunes, but things seem to be slowly on the up with Morten Olsen at the helm.

Denmark have surprised us before, but I don't see a challenge coming from them in this competition.

William Hill odds are 50/1 making them tied as favourites in 11th spot.

Greece

Greece shocked everyone in 2004 when they came from relative obscurity to clinch the Euro Championships with a victory over Portugal.

No one expected them to get close to the final, and it's the same feeling this time around I'm afraid.

Odds are available at 50/1 which puts them tied in 11th place.

Sweden

Completing the quintet of teams at 50/1 odds are Sweden.

Sweden's best European Championship performance was in 1992 when they hosted the tournament, and this tournament's qualifying campaign saw them put an end to Holland's 17-match qualification win streak.

Certainly not tipped to win the tournament, but likely to upset a few teams along the way if Ibrahimovic brings his best.

Russia

Russia topped their group to make the finals with a record of seven wins, two draws and one defeat, but their group was hardly a difficult one.

Ranked seventh favourites with the bookmakers, I don't think Russia will impress too many.

France

France are one of the European Championships' most successful teams after winning two titles in 1984 and 2000. They are only behind Germany who have three Championship wins.

France will be looking to exorcise their demons following the ill-fated 2010 World Cup in which they suffered a melt down after apparent poor discipline amongst the squad. All 23 players were suspended for a friendly match and five were subsequently disciplined.

France have lots of ability in their squad and if they prepare mentally then they could be a real threat.

Odds of 11/1 sees them as sixth favourite.

England

England and their fans are often their own downfall. The weight of expectation placed upon the national team makes anything less than the latter stages a failure.

England are ranked sixth with France by the bookmakers at 11/1.

Italy

Italy had a miserable 2010 World Cup where they limped out of the competition as reigning champions without winning a single game.

Don't expect that to happen in this tournament as Italy come in as fourth favourites at 10/1.

Netherlands

Holland are 5/1 third place favourites thanks to their excellent 2010 World Cup challenge which saw them suffer defeat in the final against Spain.

Surprisingly, Holland aren't considered second favourites by the bookies at the present moment despite an impressive qualification campaign which saw them gather 27 out of a possible 30 points ahead of second placed Sweden.

Germany

There's something about major competitions that seems to aid Germany's performance. Time and time again they seem to have the quality to make the latter stages and put in impressive displays against big teams.

Germany are currently ranked second favourites with the bookmakers at 7/2 and finished third in the 2010 World Cup after being beaten by eventual winners Spain.

Spain

2010 World Cup winners and 2008 UEFA European Championship winners Spain are without a doubt the favourites to win the 2012 European Championship's in Ukraine and Poland.

The strength in depth that Spain have available is simply impressive. Their recent 1-0 friendly defeat to England will not have dented their confidence one bit and they are expected to be in the final at end of the tournament.

The names they can call from the bench would make many other countries' first team.

Bookmaker William Hill has Spain the outright winners at 5/2 ranking them number one.

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