Best Bets to Place for 2024 European Championship (Back France, Netherlands)

With little over a day left before Euro 2024 kicks off, it's officially time to lock in our futures bets before the focus shifts to game-by-game wagering.

Last year's tournament provided us with plenty of twists and surprises; let's see if we can get ahead of the drama this year with some canny best bets for the big tournament.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Top contenders' odds to win Euro 2024

• England (+300)
• France (+340)
• Germany (+550)
• Spain (+700)
• Portugal (+750)
• Italy (+1600)
• Belgium (+1600)
• Netherlands (+1600)

Euro 2024 best bets

Group A Result: Germany 1st/Hungary 2nd (+300)

Germany has every ability to come out on top of this group as they're expected to, but beyond that, the odds are a bit off on this group. Switzerland is viewed as the second-favorite, after a nice run in Euro 2020, but realistically, Hungary has more upside.

They played phenomenally in the tournament's "group of death," pulling off surprise draws against France and Germany, the latter of which was nearly a tournament-altering win. They did it all without now-captain Dominik Szoboszlai, who was injured then, but has been playing absolutely spectacular football for his nation as of late.

We should know quickly how this bet will play out -- Hungary opens their tournament against Switzerland and then plays Germany. It's no lock in a fascinating group, but the odds are simply too good to pass up given Germany's talent advantage over the field and Hungary's placement below Switzerland in the implied sportsbook projections.

Denmark to be eliminated in Round of 16 (+125)

This bet involves not just taking a look at Denmark as a team, but also their path. The overwhelming expectation is that Denmark will finish exactly second in their group, behind England but ahead of everyone else. If that's the case, they'll go on to face the winner of Group A in the Round of 16; that would be Germany, and that's probably the end of their tournament.

The Danes were the darlings of Euro 2020 after they heroically rallied back from Christian Eriksen's on-field medical emergency, which might be affecting perception of the squad going into this tournament.

Unfortunately, lots of their core players, including but not limited to Eriksen and team captain Simon Kjaer, are aging, most likely rendering the squad less of an upset candidate as they were last time out.

Portugal to lose QF (+275)

Portugal has gotten just a bit overrated heading into this tournament. There's plenty of talent on the roster, but how does it all fit together? Cristiano Ronaldo is still around, carrying the same aura, but he's not the same player he was. That's a dangerous combination in terms of locker room chemistry; he could have a tough time adjusting to a diminished role.

Even independent of Ronaldo, Portugal's attacking group is their greatest strength; that's where most of their talent lies. The midfield is a much less star-studded group, and the back line is downright problematic, especially in its reliance on Rúben Dias, who often struggles in big moments, and the lack of a top goalkeeper.

All of that being said, the pure attacking excellence should be more than enough to lift them to the top of Group F. As group winners, they'll most likely face the group D runners up in the QF, meaning France or more likely the Netherlands.

If it does end up being France, that's trouble of course. However, the Netherlands could easily pull off the upset as well. Portugal can't score on their star-studded defense at will, and they will be vulnerable to counters from Jeremie Frimpong, Denzel Dumfries, and other pacey Dutch outside players.

One of the most trendy pre-tournament teams could have the Euro end just the way their last World Cup outing did- prematurely, in their eyes, and leaving the national FA with plenty of questions.

England to lose in QF (+400) and SF (+300)

As is the case every time international football rolls around, it is most certainly not coming home. England will end up trophyless again, as they have at every Euro, due to Gareth Southgate's continuous struggles to properly leverage all of the talent at his disposal. The only question is when exactly England might be eliminated, and there are two reasonable answers.

England's first knockout match, should they win their group as they are expected to, will be against a third-place team; that should be no issue. Then, they'll face the runners-up from either group A or B, who could be Hungary or Switzerland, but more likely Italy, Spain, or Croatia.

This is the first spot in which their tournament could end, especially if they face Euro 2020 final opponents Italy.

If England survives a tough quarterfinal, it's on to the Semifinal, where they'll all but surely be facing France, the beneficiaries of a pretty comfy path to that point. There, France should do exactly what they did in the 2022 World Cup; walk away with a win. England can match their longtime rivals in terms of talent, but France has more cohesiveness, derived from experience playing and winning big matches together.

You can place both of these bets, perhaps risking a half-unit on each, and guarantee a profit as long as one of the two hits. This approach doesn't provide as much upside as picking a single bet, so if that strategy interests you more, stick to the semifinal wager; the quarterfinal wager is a protection against a semi-plausible upset more than a genuine projection.

France (+340) and Netherlands (+1600) to win the tournament

Yes, we're betting on two separate teams to make the tournament, but the good news is that they're in the same group, so they won't be meeting in knockout stages until the final, provided that they finish as the top two of that group.

France is the best international squad in the World, even if they aren't the current holders of any trophy. Since Kylian Mbappé's arrival at the 2018 World Cup, Les Bleus haven't lost a knockout match in a World Cup or Euro by any method other than a penalty shootout, meaning that they haven't been truly beaten from open play in that period.

They'll be a stronger side than the heavily-injured squad that nearly won it all in Qatar, and less overconfident than the one that fell to Switzerland at the last Euro.

As for the Netherlands, we've already discussed them a bit, but there may not be a tougher team to score on in this entire tournament, with a star-studded defense anchored by Premier League stars Virgil van Dijk and Nathan Aké.

Even with the loss of star midfielder Frenkie de Jong, there's plenty of creative talent in the middle of the pitch, and quietly, at the top as well. With a relatively favorable path to the final, this team has every ability to get all the way there to meet France, with plenty of hedge opportunities on the way to the final.

For a higher-upside play, there's a combination bet through which you can bet on France to win the tournament and Mbappé to be the top scorer. There's +1400 odds, which are too long given both the correlation between the two outcomes, and the likelihood of each. This can be a smaller play and still turn a nice profit given the long odds, but this line is simply too good to miss.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.