Liam Flin
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Euro 2020 Group D features two semi-finalists from the 2018 World Cup — England and Croatia — as well as a Scotland team playing in their first major tournament since 1998 and 1996 runners-up the Czech Republic.
Games will be played at Wembley Stadium in England and Hampden Park in Scotland.
Let’s see who has the strongest prospects of qualifying for the knockout rounds of the European soccer tournament, but don’t forget to also read our predictions for who wins the entire competition, with a couple of Euro 2020 picks at +650 and +8000!
Three Lions ready to roar
Only once in their history has England reached the semi-finals of a European Championship but expectations are high heading into this summer’s tournament.
The Three Lions will have the advantage of playing all three group games at Wembley and should take great confidence from making the last four at the last World Cup in Russia in 2018.
Few teams in the competition can boast better squad depth with Tottenham’s star striker Harry Kane leading an attack which could feature the talented Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling, Jack Grealish and Jadon Sancho among others.
GOAL! Kieran Trippier scores for @England with a fabulous free-kick! pic.twitter.com/WRQctKZakk
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 11, 2018
Croatia not the force of old
Croatia defied the odds to make the World Cup final three years ago with instrumental midfielder Luka Modric scooping the Ballon d’Or for his role in their success later that year.
Performances in the Nations League and World Cup qualifiers since have been underwhelming, though, and they were far from perfect in their Euro 2020 qualifying group, failing to win three of their eight games.
Andrej Kramaric will shoulder the bulk of the goalscoring performance as Zlatko Dalic tries to settle on a replacement for Mario Mandzukic in attack.
Find out our picks for who finishes Euro 2020 as the top goalscorer and wins the Golden Boot!
Scots out to make most of second chance
Having been poor in their Euro 2020 qualifying section, Scotland was handed a lifeline in the form of the Nations League playoffs, in which they beat Israel and Serbia to book their place in this summer’s tournament.
The Tartan Army is short of star quality in their starting 11 but has two marauding defenders in Andrew Robertson and Kieran Tierney, who can be effective in their 3-4-2-1 system, and they will play two games on home soil either side of a Wembley date with old enemies England.
Summer sorted. ✅
Scotland are going to #EURO2020!
They beat Serbia 5-4 on penalties!pic.twitter.com/ubhodqVsWa
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) November 12, 2020
Czechs hope to rise to the big occasion
The Czech Republic has a solid record in European Championships, playing in every tournament since becoming independent in 1993, and they were solid in qualifying for this year’s event, beating England on their way to finishing second in their group.
Patrik Schick is yet to reach his full potential but leads the Czech attack while Vladimir Darida and West Ham’s Tomas Soucek are the key names in midfield.
Euro 2020 Group D verdict
England is the standout team in this group and should finish top, and although the Croatia squad looks past its best, it would be no surprise to see them go through in second. But the best bet could be to back Scotland to qualify, potentially as one of the best third-placed sides, given they will play key fixtures with Croatia and Czech Republic at their Hampden Park home.
Pick: Scotland to qualify from Group D (+110 odds)
Predicted finishing order
1. England
2. Croatia
3. Scotland
4. Czech Republic
Don’t forget to read our Pickswise experts’ soccer advice for Euro 2020 Group A, Group B, Group C, Group E and Group F.
Pickswise is the home of free Soccer Predictions, with soccer picks from Euro 2020 throughout the tournament and the MLS all season long.
