Pep Guardiola has named three favourites for the European Championship (Photo by Copa/Getty Images)
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says England are one of his three favourites to win Euro 2024 but Gareth Southgate’s side need to prove they can ‘take the next step’.
The Spaniard will be a keen onlooker as many of his City squad, including the likes of Ruben Dias, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne, will all be involved at the tournament.
Defending champions Italy have regressed since their victory against England at Wembley in 2021, and they failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
France, who were beaten in the final in Doha, are many people’s favourites to win the tournament for a third time in Germany.
But Guardiola says the hosts could be the favourites, while his homeland and England.
Guardiola says England need to prove they can take the next step (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
‘The favourites are the usual ones,’ said Guardiola.
‘There will still be some surprises but Germany, as hosts, may be favourites. Spain has made a generational change and England, obviously. They still need to take that step, but they are getting closer.
‘They [England] are very close and have a very good generation from the centre of the field forward. Since I’ve lived there, I am interested to see how they are doing.’
Germany open the tournament with a fixture against Scotland.
Southgate’s side have to wait until Sunday night, when they take on Serbia in Gelsenkirchen.
Spain play Croatia on Saturday, before taking on Italy and Albania elsewhere in the group.
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