Recently, the football data blogger “Football Meets Data” ranked the difficulty of each team’s path to the final in the European Championship based on the latest Elo ratings. The analysis revealed that Belgium has the toughest journey, while England’s is the easiest.
According to the latest Elo rankings, Spain is the strongest team among the 16, followed by France in second and England in third. The teams ranked fourth to tenth are Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland.
Considering these rankings and the specific matchups and brackets, Belgium’s potential route to the final is the most challenging. In the worst-case scenario, they would have to defeat Spain (1st), France (2nd), and Portugal (4th) consecutively to reach the final.
In contrast, England, despite criticism, has the theoretically easiest path on paper. However, in the worst-case scenario, their opponents’ ranking by Elo ratings before reaching the final would be 23rd (Slovakia), 8th (Italy), and 5th (Netherlands).
Data Blogger: Belgium Faces Toughest Knockout Path, England in Best Position. Author：Sports UEFA.Please indicate the source when reproduced：https://www.sportsuefa.com/football-world/data-blogger-belgium-faces-toughest-knockout-path-england-in-best-position.html
