UEFA Euro 2016 will enter the knockout stage on Saturday as the teams kick off in the round of 16, and a glance at the draw in this year’s tournament reveals the bracket is very lopsided.

England, France, Germany, Spain and Italy are all on one side, while Croatia and Belgium represent the strongest of the other eight teams—guaranteeing that a nation that has never won a major international tournament will reach the final and some of Europe’s illustrious sides could be facing an early exit.

Here is the full schedule for the knockout stages, complete with the latest odds courtesy of Odds Shark and Oddschecker.

The full bracket can be found at BBC Sport. 

 

Croatia and Belgium Face Straightforward Route to Final

With Croatia and Belgium set to avoid the tournament’s favourites until the final—assuming one of them gets there—there’s a lot to be said for their chances of winning the competition, as reflected in their odds.

The Red Devils enjoyed a milestone win on Wednesday as they beat Sweden 1-0, per the tournament’s official Twitter feed:

On paper, Belgium also have one of the best squads in at the Euros with quality pervading their team in almost every position.

With Hungary in the round of 16 and most likely Wales awaiting them in the quarter-finals, Belgium should expect to reach at least the final four, where they may well meet Croatia.

Though Portugal improved going forward in their last match as Cristiano Ronaldo finally found his scoring touch, they also shipped three goals to the Hungarians and haven’t managed to win a single game thus far.

Like Belgium, there are plenty of outstanding players in their side—particularly in midfield thanks to Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic and Ivan Perisic. All three have produced strong showings so far, and the latter was particularly exceptional in their 2-1 win over Spain, per WhoScored.com:

Bleacher Report UK’s Sam Tighe believes he has been the player of the tournament:

The Inter Milan winger’s creativity and willingness to run at defenders makes him a real threat and with him on top form, Croatia should have little problem meeting Belgium in the semi-finals.

However, the winner of that match will almost certainly be facing a top contender.

 

Italy a Worthy Bet at 16-1

Of the strong teams on the other side of the draw, Italy have arguably been the most impressive.

Despite topping their group, the Azzurri have one of the toughest possible draws. To reach the final, in all likelihood they must beat Spain, Germany and then either England or France.

As the Italians showed in their opening two matches, it would foolish to rule them out, though.

Like Germany, Italy seem to possess an almost innate ability to go far in tournaments, regardless of how strong their team appears on paper.

They only conceded one goal in the group stage and that was after naming a much-changed side. As noted by OptaPaolo, the team have otherwise been incredibly tough to beat under Antonio Conte:

With essentially the same back line enjoyed by Juventus—whose 20 goals conceded in Serie A last season was bettered only by Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in Europe’s top five leagues—they’ll be tough to break down even for Spain.

Further, their rested players will be fresher for the time off, per football writer Paolo Bandini:

The rest will be especially useful given how hard they work, as revealed by BT Sport’s James Horncastle after the first round of games:

If they can get past Spain, none of Germany, England or France have looked that impressive going forward despite all their attacking talent, so it’s possible they can grind their way to the final.

Once there, their superior experience can make the difference against Croatia or Belgium—or indeed any of the sides in that half of the draw.

Title Prediction: Italy

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