Best Early Bets to Place for 2024 UEFA European Football Championship

After Euro 2020 was one of the most exciting in the tournament's history, we're already gearing up for the next edition after an abnormally-short wait due to the last event's COVID-related postponement.

We are officially just a month away from this year's contest kicking off, and with the field completely set, it's a perfect time to start looking ahead to some best bets for Euro 2024 -- let's dig into a few.

All odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Tournament Winner: France +340

Since Kylian Mbappé's emergence as a star on the world stage, France has played three major tournaments, two World Cups and Euro 2020. Of course, they famously won the 2018 World Cup, but let's talk about how they got knocked out of the other two.

At the most recent edition of Euro, they were shockingly taken down by Switzerland in a shootout after a 3-3 thriller through extra time. Then in the 2022 World Cup final, another pulsating 3-3 match, they lost a penalty shootout again. So, Mbappé's version of Les Bleus has yet to lose a knockout match via any method other than a very close shootout.

That level of consistency is borderline unfathomable, and should be rewarded with another trophy. England are the favorites as per just about every sportsbook, and they are a highly-talented squad, but as long as Gareth Southgate is at the helm it's challenging to envision them finally putting it all together and getting to the top.

By contrast, Didier Deschamps's squad has already reached the mountaintop together, and almost did it again amidst outrageous injury issues in 2022.

The French stars like Mbappé, Olivier Giroud, and just about anyone in the midfield always seem to elevate when they pull on their national team jerseys, rather than shrinking in the biggest moments like some top players can tend to do.

It also appears that France will have the services of rising star goalkeeper Mike Maignan at their disposal; he recently sustained a minor injury, but shouldn't have to miss the tournament. His absence was a real issue in 2022, as a past-prime Hugo Lloris put in a valiant effort but arguably cost his team in the final.

Similarly, for a safer play, you could bet on France's -150 odds to reach the semi-final; there's absolutely no reason to believe that this team should have an issue with winning a pair of knockout matches.

Hungary to qualify for knockout stages: -160

Euro's group stage is a bit different than that in the World Cup, namely due to the fact that several third-placed teams will advance to knockouts.

For this reason, Hungary is worth a bet to advance, even at these odds, as it's incredibly easy to envision them winning two matches or going unbeaten with at least one win, either of which is almost always good enough to move on to the next stage even if a team finishes third.

Let's take a look at Group A. Switzerland has some fairly juiced odds due to their recent performances in international play, but it's not hard to make the case that they've played over their heads and had a decent bit of luck in their corner.

Scotland could provide a challenge with talented midfield and defensive options, but it's not clear who would be the scoring option to break down Péter Gulásci and an experienced Hungary back line.

Then there's host nation Germany, who should win the group by all regards, but has a very disappointing recent history in major tournaments. They failed to advance from their group in the Qatar World Cup after losing to Japan and drawing Spain, and were dispatched by England in the first knockout round of Euro 2020.

Die Mannschaft only faced the Three Lions so early because they finished second in their group after losing to France and drawing with...Hungary. With captain Dominik Szoboszlai presumably healthy for Hungary this time around, history just might repeat itself.

Spain vs. Croatia to end as a draw: +275

Rather than bet on an overall outcome from hyper-competitive Group B, let's hone in on one of the matches that could go a long way towards determining a group winner. Or, more accurately, a result that could throw the group into even more chaos- a draw between two of the most-favored teams.

This match has draw written all over it. Even when they've made their famous tournament runs, Croatia have been outrageously reliant on overtime and shootouts in the knockout stage, which of course don't exist in the group stage; those matches would be draws. They reached extra time in all three of their 2018 World Cup knockout wins preceding the final, and did the same in two knockout matches to start the 2022 tournament.

As far as Euro 2020, they were knocked out in the first round after going to extra time against none other than Spain. Spain then went on to beat Switzerland in a penalty shootout, and lost to Italy in one. Back on World Cups, they drew twice in the group stage in 2018 before losing their first knockout match in a penalty shootout. In 2022, they famously lost to Morocco on penalties in the first knockout round as well.

Beyond this incredibly strong trend, there's a stylistic element that lends itself to a draw as well. Both of these teams are extremely possession-based, employ solid back lines, and generally lack a true out-and-out forward to put away chances, something that has especially hurt Spain in recent tournaments.

This could be a very high-level match in some senses, but it should certainly be a cagey one, and goals certainly should not abound- expect these two teams to remain level after 90 minutes, and consider under 2.5 goals at -120 odds as well.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.