The national team of Germany, titled as the Champion of the World, isn't going to concede its superiority to anybody. Therefore, at Euro 2016 they go as the winners. Italians managed to score a goal to Germans, the only opponent of all, but it didn’t bring them a victory. Germans play measurably and sedately, don't hurry, but show unprecedented coordination and concentration on the field. It is in the 1/4 finals the wards of Joachim Lowe missed the penalties since 1982, but Manuel Neuer showed himself as the best keeper in the world.

German and French players often met. These were mostly friendly matches, but one meeting was a key one. In 2014 at the World Championship in Brazil, the German team knocked out the French team in the quarterfinal stage of the tournament. An early goal decided everything and it was the only one in the meeting. The French team will try to return the favour with the support of native stands. In general, France has won 6 of the 9 meetings since 1990, including the game remembered for the terrorist attack. Ten matches held had fewer than 3 goals, and 6 – fewer than 2. So the affair promises to be tight.

The winnings of Deschamps’ team were not obtained easily. In 1/8 final match with Ireland (2: 1), the French team missed already on the 2nd minute but found the strength to fight back and scored a double in the middle of the second half. With regard to the quarterfinals, the French felt a lot easier. Iceland national team ventured to play open football, and paid the price for this by losing with a score of 2: 5. The statistics of the French is W6-D2-L5 with the teams from the Top 10 list. And in their 3 competitive games, they scored only 4 times.

A Couple of Statistical Records

This is going to be the 22nd match of a World and Euro Championship since 1970, where the team gained a victory by at least 3 clear goals in the previous rounds. Other 21 teams that did so had poor statistics of W3-D8-L10.

16 matches of the major levels like Euro, World or Copa Americas Championships were held since 1976, where the both opponents were in the list of Top 10 and in addition. One of the opponents was the host team. 11 games finished all-square and, if to narrow this to Top 6 sides, 7 draws in 10 games. If we do not count the host team factor, there will be 38 games at major Finals since 1976 between the two Top 6 teams. The team with the higher rank had W11-D18-L9 and 18 of the 27 have been level at half-time.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM EURO 2016 ½ FINAL?

As you can see, the draw trend is very definite at this stage, when both opponents are so strong. Furthermore, three players in the German national team will not take part for various reasons. Sami Khedira will miss the semi-finals, but can be restored to a possible final; Mario Gomez and Hummels will miss it because of yellow cards. So the Germans will be cautious. That is why the draw seems a great bet to us.