Euro 2012 Group Stage Betting
The Euro 2012 group stage will see some talented and exciting countries going head-to-head in order to finish first and second in their group which means qualification to the last eight of the tournament. With teams playing all of their group opponents once, there will be plenty of value and opportunity with Euro 2012 group stage betting.
Spain go into the tournament as favourites to retain their 2008 title. However, the recent runs of form for the Netherlands and Germany will make them both short priced favourites during all stages of Euro 2012 group stage betting. There are also a number of other teams that should feature prominently during the group stage of event due to start on June 8 2012.
Euro 2012 Group A Betting
Group A is one of the hardest groups to call during the group stage of the event. The group contains; Poland, Greece, Russia and the Czech Republic. All of these sides have a great chance to win the group and Euro 2012 group A betting could have very even odds for all the teams in the build up to the tournament.
Russia and Greece will more than likely be the most confident at this stage. Both teams finished top of their group during the qualification process and Greece went through the entire qualification stage unbeaten. Poland enter the tournament automatically as they are one of the joint hosts and the Czechs finished second behind Spain in their group.
Euro 2012 Group B Betting
Group B has been widely described as the 'Group of Death' by journalists and pundits because it contains two of the favourites to win the tournament as well as an outsider with some of the world's best players. The group contains; Germany, Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal.
Germany could dominate Euro 2012 group B betting because of their record during qualification. They played ten games, which is more than the Spanish, and they didn’t drop a single point during the process. The Netherlands played the same amount of games and only lost one match.
Euro 2012 Group C Betting
Spain will be the strong favourites for Euro 2012 group C betting in a group which also contains former World Champions Italy as well as the Republic of Ireland and Croatia. Neither Spain nor Italy lost a single game during their qualification campaigns and Spain go into the tournament looking to retain their title.
The Republic of Ireland finished second in their qualification group behind Russia before thumping Estonia in a Euro 2012 play-off. Ireland could be one of the best supported sides apart from Poland and Ukraine. Croatia finished second behind Greece in qualifying before winning their play-off.
Euro 2012 Group D Betting
Group D of Euro 2012 contains two teams that are capable of winning major tournaments but have under performed in recent years; England and France. The group also contains Sweden and joint hosts Ukraine. The favourites to go through in Euro 2012 group D betting will be England and France.
England went through their qualification campaign unbeaten with some good victories away from home. France finished first in their group after losing just one match. Ukraine qualify as a host of the event and Sweden finished second in their qualification group to the Netherlands despite an amazing record of eight wins and only two defeats.
Euro 2012 Format
The Euro 2012 format is very simple. Teams play each other once during the group stage with the top two tams going through into the last eight. Three points are awarded for a win and one for a draw which is the conventional points system used around the world.
Once the tournament reaches the last eight stage the tournament becomes a knock out competition with the winners going through to the semi-finals and eventually the final.