With Euro 2024 finally here, fans from across the continent have been anxiously making predictions about how far their team might go.
Of the 24 sides to have reached the finals, 16 will progress to reach the knockout rounds and subsequently move within four games of making history.
With just one month to go before the next champions of Europe are crowned, Mail Sport ran a simulation on EA FC 24 to find out what might happen in Germany.
Needless to say, the results flew squarely in the face of conventional wisdom.
First of all, the favourites. Didier Deschamps has some incredible talent at his disposal, and arguably the world’s best player in Kylian Mbappe as his talisman, but how did Les Bleus fare in our simulation?
Mail Sport simulated the upcoming European Championships in Germany on EA FC 24
The hugely-popular football video game sprung up some surprises in its simulation
After qualifying second from Group D having suffered defeat to the Netherlands, France thrashed Ukraine 4-1 in the round of 16 before crashing out to Portugal in quarter-final.
Likewise England also failed to top their group thanks to a 3-1 defeat to Denmark, but did manage to progress further than their rivals across the channel.
Gareth Southgate’s side eliminated hosts Germany for a second successive Euros, then bested Croatia 2-1 in a rematch of 2018 World Cup semi-final to reach the final four.
Ultimately though 58 years of hurt would continue as Portugal secured a narrow victory in the semis to book a place in the final against Switzerland.
After reaching the quarter-finals in 2020, Murat Yakin’s side continued their impressive recent run at major tournaments by beating Spain in the round of 16 before progressing beyond Denmark to set up the most unlikely of semi-final fixtures.
In the biggest Euros upset since Greece’s triumph in 2004, the simulation tipped minnows Georgia to reach the final four in Germany.
With Napoli star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia carrying his club form into international duty, the former Soviet state finished ahead of Turkey and Czechia to reach the knockout stage in their first ever European Championship finals.
From there, Georgia defeated Holland in the first knockout round before seeing off Belgium to reach the semis.
The simulation saw England knocked out in the semi-final stage by eventual winners Portugal, two decades after being eliminated by them in 2004
They were met in the final by Switzerland, with the simulation tipping them to defeat the likes of Spain and Denmark en route to the clash
Meanwhile the tournament’s lowest-ranked team, Georgia reached the semis in their first European Championship finals
Ultimately though their fairytale would come to an end against Granit Xhaka and Switzerland, as they triumphed 3-1 to set up a final with Portugal.
Two decades after his first appearance at the European Championships, the simulation then saw Cristiano Ronaldo lift the trophy for a second time as Portugal defeated Switzerland 2-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.
