England, Denmark, and Italy lead Euro 2020 - plus: other favourites who failed surprisingly

Could it be 'Coming Home' this year? England beat Ukraine with an impressive 0-4 during the quarterfinals and they seem unstoppable. Click further to read about the remaining contenders for the Euro Cup as well as some other big favourites who didn't make it.

England has not had such a powerful team in years but they continued to be optimistic going into the tournament. The Premier League is the strongest competition in Europe and squad of Gareth Southgate has players with a clear depth of quality.

Players in their prime, such as Rashford, Harry Kane and Alexander-Arnold combined with young talents like Foden and Jadon Sancho create an incredible diverse group of talent. In addition, they've had the advantage of playing at Wembley, which always helps to motivate.

Gareth Southgate picked a strong line-up that features not only a wealth of experience but also first call-ups for White, Godfrey and Ramsdale.

Read more about Southgate's selection

When Euro2020 began, Southgate was optimistic: "We have to allow everybody to dream, we want to dream ourselves but we've got to make sure we won't just win because we're at home, we won't just win because we're an exciting team, we've got to get all the parts right and that's got to be our aim." Hear, hear.

Here we have the outsider of the four semi-finalists. Denmark was not a favourite when Euro 2020 started. What did they do to become one? Well, first of all they beat the Czech Republic 2-1 in the quarterfinals, with Thomas Delaney and Kasper Dolberg making the decisive goals. In addition, their defence is highly praised. Eurosport says the team's back six, including goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and wing-back Joakim Maehle makes them "capable of winning it all."

Kasper Schmeichel has an extra motivation to become the goalkeeper of the 2021 European champion. His father, Peter Schmeichel, was part of the team that surprised everyone in 1992 by taking home the cup while originally not even qualifying for the tournament. Will this year's outsider Denmark repeat history?

At the start of the tournament, the Italian team didn't quite have that aura of being unbeatable and dangerous, and that was precisely what made them all the more threatening. Coach Roberto Mancini recovered the team's ethic based on work, enthusiasm and young talents which, over time, has changed the perception of Italian football. Is it enough for them to win the cup?

Insigne, Immobile, Belotti, Bonucci, Chiellini, Chiesa and Verratti are a fantastic combination of youngsters and veterans, giving them a lot to fight with at this European Championship. Italy is back and that's good news for football.

At several games, and especially the quarterfinal against Belgium, football fans have noticed the Italian love for drama. A high point was Ciro Immobile's near-death in the box on the Belgian side, only to recover miraculously seconds later when teammate Nicolò Barella scored a goal.

And then there are the favourites who lost. Of course, only one team can win, but for some of the countries in this list, the elimination from Euro 2020 was particularly surprising.

Team España have continued to dream about the historic triplet they achieved between 2008 and 2012 (two Euro Cups and a World Cup). The problem is that the transition from that number one team to a new one took a long time to arrive. Against Italy, Luis Enrique's Spain could not quite make it in the semi-finals.

Goalkeeper Unai Simón would get a surprising and, frankly, concerning main role in the story of Spain's Euro 2020. Both the quarterfinal against Switzerland and the semi-final against Italy turned into 120-minute thrillers, ending in penalty shootouts to break the ties. Against Switzerland, the Spanish penalties were successful. Against Italy, they were not. End of story.

Current world champions, the Bleus had a tremendous record of success. They did not expect the force of the Swiss football team though - and neither did anyone else, for that matter. Just like Spain in the quarterfinals, the French team were surprised by the stamina of Switzerland, worn out in a 120-minute tie, and beaten in a hair-raising penalty shootout.

Which football fan will ever forget that moment that France's biggest player, Kylian Mbappé, missed the decisive penalty against Swiss master goalkeeper Yann Sommer? It's football history.

Germany was a big favourite, even though the team had had their ups and downs (remember the elimination from the 2018 World Cup by South Korea). Joachim Löw's Mannschaft proceeded steadfastly in Euro 2020 until it met with Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling in the last 16. With 2-0 the English made a mark in a long-standing rivalry between the two football countries while also putting the end to the German dream of becoming this year's Euro-Meisters.

After a great run in the previous World Cup, this team was called the 'Golden Generation' and expected to smash through the Euros. Up to a point, the Belgians did... but then they met Italy in the quarterfinal. Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, and Romelu Lukaku were among the big stars of this very strong contender. Their fans are now worried that the 'Golden Generation' will not make it in its entirety to the next big tournament, Qatar 2022.

The Dutch national team has a mixed record, mostly of international star players who underperform when coming out for their home country. In this year's Netherlands' run, as with other favourites like France, the big names didn't live up to their reputation. A terrible hands ball by Juventus player Matthijs de Ligt ruined the Dutch' eigth-final game against Czech Republic and they seemed completely helpless after that. Coach Frank de Boer was pretty quick to draw his conclusions and resign.

As the current Euro champion, with a majority of the team playing in the Premier League, Portugal was a clear favourite for this tournament. The quality players include Bruno Fernandez, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix, and of course Cristiano Ronaldo. However, the Belgium team they encountered in the last 16 was just a little stronger. With 1-0 they knocked the defending Euro champions out of the tournament.

For CR7, Euro 2020 ended early but with some big personal records. Ronaldo became the top goal-scorer in the history of any national team. For him, scoring any goal - and he made five - would mean beating Platini as the Euro Cup's top scorer of all time. In addition, Ronaldo was the first player in history to score in five different Euro Cups. A living legend of football and sport. Still, he would have liked to become champions with his team as well.

See who else made the top 10 of goal-scorers in the Euros.