France or Germany? Our predictions on who will win Euro 2016

When you look down the FIFA rankings you find Germany at number four. The defending world champions have a deep team and the tools to put together another deep run in a major tournament.

Germany won World Cup 2014. The finished 3rd at Euro 2012, World Cup 2010, and World Cup 2006 with a runner-up loss to Spain in Euro 2008. The German national team have made semifinals like clockwork in every major tournament since 2004 and with Bastian Schweinsteiger’s heart, Jerome Boateng's skill, and Thomas Müller craftiness they’ll probably make it again.

However, staring them down is France. The host nation hasn’t performed well of late, finding themselves mired down in the late teens in the FIFA rankings — they’re behind the Netherlands who are nothing short of an unmitigated disaster right now. But there’e something about this year’s France team. They have a joie de vivre about them, buoyed as they are by a host of Europe’s youngest and brightest talents. Paul Pogba, Antione Griezmann, Kingsley Coman, and more are set to show that football on the soil of France will be won by France.

There’s a reason they draw dead even in our voting. Euro 2016 could come to be defined by Europe’s deepest and Europe’s brightest. But staring them both in the face is the team that has won three of the last four major tournaments in Spain.

Votes:

France: 4 votes

Germany: 4 votes

Spain: 1 vote