Winner

Varsity sport co-editor Ed Marsh: France.

Men’s Blues captain Cai La Trobe-Roberts: France. The best squad and the most experience.

Women’s Blues co-captain Abbie Hastie: France.

Ben Conway’s verdict: Despite the support for France from the experts above, I like the look of Portugal. They have snuck under the radar with a deceptively strong squad; depth in every position and a multitude of players who are able to win a game on their own. Maybe Ronaldo’s final bow too.

Semi-finalists

EM: France, England, Germany, Portugal.

CLTR: France, England, Germany, Portugal.

AH: France, England, Germany, Netherlands.

BC’s verdict: Spain, England, Germany, Portugal. I think the Germans’ home advantage will play a big role, and they’ll make the final.

Dark horse

EM: Ukraine. I have them topping their group ahead of Belgium.

CLTR: Croatia

AH: Hungary

BC’s verdict: Georgia. Group G looks very open, once we assume that Portugal will storm it. Georgia’s star player Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is at the kind of age where big players really come into their own at international tournaments (think James Rodriguez at WC 2014 or Federico Chiesa at Euro 2020) and I back him to lead them out of the group at least.

Biggest letdown

EM: England

CLTR: Italy

AH: Spain. Their team is still too young.

BC’s verdict: France, as usual, are the bookies’ favourites (aside from England, towards whom the odds are always skewed because of English bettors) – but I’m not persuaded by their squad this year. Any tournament that France doesn’t win is a disappointment by their high standards; and I’ve backed them to miss out on the semis.

How will England do?

EM: Semi-finals

CLTR: Semi-finals

AH: Semi-finals

BC’s verdict: Semi-finals. Consensus in this category, as the realism has overcome the optimism in all of our predictions, which envisage England being the nearly men yet again.

And how about Scotland?

EM: Out in the groups. I do think they will scrape a point against Hungary though!

CLTR: Out in the groups

AH: Out in the groups

BC’s verdict: In the sweepstake with my friends (six of us, so four teams each) I have all three of the other teams in Scotland’s group. So I hope they go out in the groups. Which they probably will do, especially with some really important players missing in Lyndon Dykes, Nathan Patterson, and Lewis Ferguson.

Golden boot

EM: Harry Kane

CLTR: Kylian Mbappé, only in the absence of Kieffer Moore of course.

AH: Harry Kane

BC’s verdict: Harry Kane. Easy answer. He’s the best striker in the world, with tournament pedigree, penalty-taking duty, and an array of massively creative and talented players just behind him. Kylian Mbappé, Romelu Lukaku, and Niclas Füllkrug would all be in my bets to run him close.

Most assists

EM: Bruno Fernandes – top assister at the Qatar WC.

CLTR: Bruno Fernandes

AH: Phil Foden

BC’s verdict: Could really be anyone, but I think Jeremy Doku looked lively for Manchester City at the back end of last season and is very capable of carrying that form into this summer’s action.

Golden glove

EM: Jordan Pickford

CLTR: Jordan Pickford thanks to England’s favourable draw and usually cautious approach.

AH: Mike Maignan

BC’s verdict: Thibaut Courtois. Given that the maximum number of games a team can play is seven (and only four teams do this), those guaranteed first three are very important for this award, and Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine aren’t particularly inspiring in the striking department. Belgium look like they could keep some clean sheets.

Golden ball

EM: Kylian Mbappé. Mr France in tournaments.

CLTR: Kylian Mbappé

AH: Kylian Mbappé

BC’s verdict: The experts above, the bookmakers, and pretty much everyone that I talk to thinks that Mbappé will be the star player this summer. I’ll go against the grain – maybe just for the sake of it – and say Bruno Fernandes. He seems the best bet given my confidence in Portugal, as he will surely be instrumental should they win the tournament.

Ones to watch

Unfortunately, it is usually the case that smaller teams’ best players are only on show for three matches. However, I am banking on Serbia’s Aleksandar Mitrović to pull something out of the bag after a 40-goal season in Saudi Arabia, and I’m also excited to see whether Switzerland’s Xherdan Shaqiri can repeat any of his wonderful antics from Euro 2016. And after slow seasons at their clubs, this summer could prove a great springboard into next campaign for Rasmus Hojlund and Cody Gakpo. Finally, Toni Kroos is one to keep an eye on simply because he has promised that it’s his last dance in professional football.

Rising stars

Some of the world’s most promising young stars will be on display at a major international tournament for the first time, and it will be really interesting to see how they fare under the extreme limelight. I am most excited to watch Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, who hasn’t yet been fazed by any of the big stages he’s performed on in his fledgling career. Likewise, Xavi Simons, Brian Brobbey, Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, and Benjamin Šeško are all young enough to be eligible for the Young Player of the Tournament award, and are entering the tournament off the back of excellent seasons at Dutch or German clubs.

Where to watch in Cambridge

Cambridge is famously blessed with a pub on every corner, leaving people with plenty of choice for viewing experience – I recommended a few personal favourites in my World Cup preview two years ago. And if the sun decides to emerge at any point this month, that might even mean that beer gardens will be in use, as well as indoors.

For students, some of the evening group stage matches will take place during May Balls. This Camfessor asked whether England’s group stage fixture against Denmark will be shown at the events on the 20th of June, but they should be able to just about squeeze it in beforehand, since the kick-off time is 5pm. Otherwise, students can watch the games in college bars, JCRs and MCRs, and at home with friends and family.