Euro 2016: Odds, Live-Stream Schedule and Predictions for Group Fixtures

After months of qualifying and preparation, the draw has been made and the squads have been chosen—UEFA Euro 2016 is here.

Hosts France will kick off the showpiece on Friday against Romania and the expanded 24-team group stage will begin.

While more teams will reach the knockout stages than ever before—four third-placed teams will also progress, meaning only eight nations will exit at the group phase—that arguably makes winning the section more vital than ever.

Here is the complete schedule for the group stage, and read on for the top odds for each and some predictions:

Date	Time (BST/ET)	Match	Channel (UK)	Channel (U.S.)
Friday, 10 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	France v Romania	ITV	ESPN
Saturday, 11 June	3 p.m./10 a.m.	Albania v Switzerland	BBC One	ESPN
Saturday, 11 June	5 p.m./Noon	Wales v Slovakia	BBC One	ESPN
Saturday, 11 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	England v Russia	ITV	ESPN
Sunday, 12 June	3 p.m./10 a.m.	Turkey v Croatia	ITV	ESPN
Sunday, 12 June	5 p.m./Noon	Poland v Northern Ireland	BBC One	ESPN
Sunday, 12 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	Germany v Ukraine	BBC One	ESPN
Monday, 13 June	3 p.m./10 a.m.	Spain v Czech Republic	ITV	ESPN
Monday, 13 June	5 p.m./Noon	Republic of Ireland v Sweden	BBC One	ESPN
Monday, 13 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	Belgium v Italy	BBC One	ESPN
Tuesday, 14 June	5 p.m./Noon	Austria v Hungary	ITV	ESPN
Tuesday, 14 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	Portugal v Iceland	BBC One	ESPN
Wednesday, 15 June	3 p.m./10 a.m.	Russia v Slovakia	BBC One	ESPN
Wednesday, 15 June	5 p.m./Noon	Romania v Switzerland	ITV	ESPN
Wednesday, 15 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	France v Albania	ITV	ESPN
Thursday, 16 June	3 p.m./10 a.m.	England v Wales	BBC One	ESPN
Thursday, 16 June	5 p.m./Noon	Ukraine v Northern Ireland	ITV	ESPN
Thursday, 16 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	Germany v Poland	ITV	ESPN
Friday, 17 June	3 p.m./10 a.m.	Italy v Sweden	ITV	ESPN
Friday, 17 June	5 p.m./Noon	Czech Republic v Croatia	BBC One	ESPN
Friday, 17 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	Spain v Turkey	ITV	ESPN
Saturday, 18 June	3 p.m./10 a.m.	Belgium v Republic of Ireland	ITV	ESPN
Saturday, 18 June	5 p.m./Noon	Iceland v Hungary	BBC	ESPN
Saturday, 18 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	Portugal v Austria	BBC	ESPN
Sunday, 19 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	Romania v Albania	BBC	ESPN2
Sunday, 19 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	Switzerland v France	BBC	ESPN
Monday, 20 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	Russia v Wales	ITV	ESPN2
Monday, 20 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	Slovakia v England	ITV	ESPN
Tuesday, 21 June	5 p.m./Noon	Northern Ireland v Germany	BBC	ESPN
Tuesday, 21 June	5 p.m./Noon	Ukraine v Poland	BBC	ESPN2
Tuesday, 21 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	Croatia v Spain	ITV	ESPN
Tuesday, 21 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	Czech Republic v Turkey	ITV	ESPN2
Wednesday, 22 June	5 p.m./Noon	Hungary v Portugal	BBC	ESPN
Wednesday, 22 June	5 p.m./Noon	Iceland v Austria	BBC	ESPN2
Wednesday, 22 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	Italy v Republic of Ireland	ITV	ESPN
Wednesday, 22 June	8 p.m./3 p.m.	Sweden v Belgium	ITV	ESPN2

Matches can be streamed live via BBC iPlayer, ITV Player and Watch ESPN.

Here are the latest odds for each group, per Oddschecker:

	Winner	To Qualify	Not to Qualify
Group A
France	4-11	1-41	35-1
Switzerland	9-2	2-7	11-4
Romania	11-1	5-6	6-5
Albania	28-1	2-1	2-5
Group B
England	11-13	1-10	7-1
Russia	57-17	2-5	9-4
Wales	6-1	3-4	6-4
Slovakia	9-1	11-10	19-20
Group C
Germany	5-11	1-33	25-1
Poland	5-1	4-11	12-5
Ukraine	8-1	1-2	28-15
Northern Ireland	40-1	11-4	3-10
Group D
Spain	4-6	1-10	10-1
Croatia	7-2	4-11	12-5
Turkey	9-1	16-11	Evens
Czech Republic	10-1	16-11	13-15
Group E
Belgium	5-4	2-9	5-1
Italy	15-8	6-17	7-2
Sweden	6-1	4-5	6-5
Republic of Ireland	12-1	5-4	6-13
Group F
Austria	2-1	5-11	19-5
Iceland	13-2	8-5	13-10
Hungary	14-1	7-5	13-18
Portugal	18-1	1-5	15-2

Highest-Scoring Group

Predicting the highest-scoring group can be quite difficult, particularly in this year's tournament, where three draws would likely be enough to ensure a team's passage to the next round.

According to Oddschecker, Group C is the favourite to produce the most goals at 3-1, likely due to the presence of tournament experts Germany and Robert Lewandowski for Poland.

Alik Keplicz/Associated Press

However, Group E—the proverbial "group of death" at this year's tournament—may be a better choice at 5-1.

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted 50 times for Paris Saint-Germain this season, and as Goal UK revealed, he enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign for Sweden:

Further, his side recently showed in a 3-0 win over Wales—in which Ibrahimovic did not score—they have other players who can find the net, so even if he can be kept quiet they can still threaten their opponents.

Meanwhile, Belgium boast the most expensive squad at the tournament, per MailOnline's Nick Harris. In particular, the Red Devils have one of the most impressive arrays of creative and attacking players available, with Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Michy Batshuayi to name but a few.

Per UEFA Euro 2016, De Bruyne has laid on 19 opportunities for his team-mates in his last two Belgium matches, while Lukaku and Hazard have both been looking dangerous in their warm-up games:

The Republic of Ireland also showed in qualification that they can cope with more illustrious opposition—they took four points off Germany—so there's potential for goals there, too.

A glance at the 2014 FIFA World Cup offers mixed results in terms of the goals produced in groups containing several top teams. Group B, which consisted of the Netherlands, Spain, Chile and Australia, saw 23 goals scored—the highest of the group stage—while England, Uruguay, Italy and Costa Rica netted the fewest, with just 12 between them.

Italy could again throw a spanner in the works, as they look far stronger at the back than they do up front, but the desire for a favourable draw in the round of 16 could make what in theory will be the most competitive group a possible goal-fest.

Prediction: Group E

To Win All Group Games

Per Oddschecker, the favourites to stroll through their groups are France at 7-4, Germany at 9-4, Spain at 7-2 and England at 4-1.

However, a better bet could be Austria at 9-1. Aside from Bayern Munich star David Alaba, Leicester City's Christian Fuchs and Stoke City's Marko Arnautovic, there are relatively few recognisable names in the squad, but they enjoyed an outstanding qualifying campaign.

Darko Bandic/Associated Press

In a group with Russia and Sweden, Austria didn't lose a single game in qualifying—one of just four teams to do so along with England, Italy and Romania.

Nine of those were wins—bettered only by the Three Lions—including a 4-1 thrashing of Sweden. Football writer Cristian Nyari is considering them an outside bet to win the tournament:

"

Look out for Austria at the EUROs this summer. They are my dark horses to go very far. https://t.co/x70q3fw93l

— Cristian Nyari (@CrisNyari) May 7, 2016"

Marc Janko netted seven goals in qualifying and a further 22 for FC Basel this season, while Arnautovic enjoyed a fairly impressive domestic season for Stoke, per the Premier League: 

Captain Alaba, who hit four in qualifying, adds real star quality in midfield. Per ESPN FC's Raphael Honigstein, the 23-year-old said they are not getting carried away by their recent success:

"

Everybody will go completely nuts if we won our first game against Hungary. And so they should! We want to see the country getting euphoric. But we can only make that happen by keeping our focus on the first match and thinking small. The aim is to start on a positive note and then keep on going.

"

Even so, while the teams above have the likes of Switzerland, Poland, Croatia and Russia to contend with, Austria's group contains Hungary, Iceland and Portugal.

Beating all three will be a big ask, but Austria could be the team to surprise everyone in the group stages, if not at the tournament as a whole.

Prediction: Austria