Euro 2020: Who is likely to qualify?

Group E: Croatia, Wales, Slovakia, Hungary, Azerbaijan

Croatia can still call upon Ballon d'Or winner Luka Modric

Despite suffering relegation from League A, World Cup runners-up Croatia didn’t actually perform too badly in the Nations League. They defeated Spain and were actually minutes away from winning the group when England pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind win at Wembley in November.

That makes them big favourites for this group, and obviously it helps that in a surprise to some, longtime veterans Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic have decided to stick around. That means Croatia have only lost Mario Mandzukic from what is an incredibly strong squad all over the pitch, with the likes of Ivan Perisic, Mateo Kovacic and Andrej Kramaric also starring.

Wales should be looking to secure the runners-up spot here; in Gareth Bale they have a genuinely world-class talent, and recently he’s continued to act as the talisman for the side, as he inspired them to a tremendous 4-1 win over Ireland in the Nations League. They also have some tremendous youngsters in Ethan Ampadu, Ben Woodburn and Harry Wilson – although a lack of regular football for the former two will be worrying for manager Ryan Giggs.

Their closest threat will likely be Slovakia, who pushed England hard in qualifying for the World Cup, but realistically the likes of Marek Hamsik and Martin Skrtel are now aging and haven’t been making their usual impact. A 4-1 Nations League win over Ukraine was promising, however, despite their eventual relegation.

Hungary meanwhile have struggled to follow up their solid Euro 2016 showing, as they failed to qualify for the World Cup and then finished second to Finland in their Nations League campaign, although they did end it with two wins, including one over the Finns. And finally, Azerbaijan’s capital Baku will be hosting some of Euro 2020’s games, but I don’t expect them to qualify as this looks like a nasty group.

Overall Croatia should win this group comfortably, with Wales probably taking the runner-up spot assuming they don’t slip up against Slovakia or Hungary.

Prediction: Croatia and Wales to qualify