EURO 2024 Champion - Central Europe’s Favorite to Win
14 June marks the first day of one of the most watched sports events globally. The eagerness to see the best team rise to the top on the UEFA European Championship have already captured the imagination of Central European football fans too. According to an opinion poll conducted by CEPER, on average 60% of Central Europeans from the 10 surveyed countries responded that they are planning to pay at least some attention and follow the upcoming European Championship. Just weeks before the kick off, as little as 37% (on average) of regional respondents remained uninterested in the tournament. As 81% of Croatian respondents are planning to follow at least some of the football matches, undoubtedly Croatians are the most excited about the upcoming Championship in the region. In four countries (Austria, Poland, Romania and Slovenia) about 64-69%, while in Serbia, Slovakia and Bulgaria between 53 and 57% of respondents are planning to be informed about the UEFA European Championship throughout June and July. Hungary and Czechia were the only two countries where less than half of respondents were planning to follow at least in part the tournament – only 47 and 46% respectively responded that they will be informed about the sports event.
Place your bets!
Many Central Europeans are not only eager to follow the performance of the 24 competing countries, but some football lovers already have strong convictions about the most likely winner. CEPER asked those, who are following the European Championship to name the team they believe is the most likely to win the tournament. In six countries Germany was named the topmost likely Champion by the largest percentage of respondents, while the largest percentage of Austrians, Poles and Romanians predicted France to win the Final. The largest and second largest percentage of Bulgarians, Czechs, Serbs, Slovaks, Slovenes and Hungarians named Germany and France as the most likely winner. 24% of Poles who will follow the Championship expected France, while 13% forecasted Spain to become this year’s Champion. After France, the team that was predicted to win the tournament by the second most Romanians was England. Italy, who looks to defend its title as UEFA EURO 2020 Champion was not selected by more than 8% of respondents in either of the 10 Central European countries as the likely 2024 Champion. Overall, it can be concluded that respondents from the region have strong expectations to see either France or Germany come on top – on average (in the 10 regional countries) 18% (of those who follow the sports events) predicted France, while 17% forecasted Germany to become this year’s Champion.
Respondents are looking forward to seeing their own national teams play. Croats and Austrians were the most confident in their teams – 46% of Croats who will follow the Championship believed that their team will emerge as the ultimate winner of the tournament. 23% Austrian fans of the football event named France, and 16% named Austria as the most likely winner of this year’s sports event. Not less than 10% of Hungarians and Serbs also named their country as favourite to win. In Czechia and Poland around 8% of respondents who will at least in part follow the tournament predicted their own country’s victory, while in Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia less than 5% did.
Methodology
The opinion-poll survey was carried out in 10 countries in the Central European region: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Poland. The data were collected between 06 May and 04 June 2024. The survey was conducted by telephone with 1 000 respondents per country (in person in Serbia). The sample per country is representative by gender, age and type of settlement.
About us
CEPER is the brand of CEPER Group GmbH. The CEPER acronym abbreviates Central European Perspectives. CEPER's area of expertise is Central European affairs, the company offers media monitoring, market research and opinion polls from the region to its clients.