Group C is shaping up to be one of the more hotly contested groups in the Euro 2016 tournament with the heavy front runners playing against a few teams that could surprise.

The World Champions

Germany is undeniably the favorite to win this group by a country mile. The defending World Cup champs have not been at their most cohesive in recent months of play, but they have the talent to truly dominate any opponent and probably will.

Predicting Germany's starting lineup is a tall order as Joachim Loew is likely to make changes in every single game given the quality of talent at his disposal. The only true guarantee is Manuel Neuer being the main man in net.

But the rest of the team is full of treasures with the likes of Toni Kross, Mesut Ozil, Marco Reus, Julian Draxler, Thomas Mueller, Mario Goetze and Andre Schurrle being the top men offensively. Three of those men will not be a starter for this team.

Reus will be the one to watch. The Borussia Dortmund star is coming off a 23-goal season, his best to date. He missed the 2014 World Cup and his arrival alone makes this team even more dangerous than the previous outfit.

In its last 10 games, Germany has a record of six wins and four losses.

2012 Euro Cup Hosts Face Off

The hosts of the 2012 Euro tournament will be facing off in this group, likely contesting second place.

Poland enters as the favorite in this particular battle, thanks mainly to the potency of Robert Lewandowski. The striker, who has 34 goals all-time for his country, had a 42 goals in all tournaments for Munich this season, his best output to date. He also scored a whopping 13 goals in qualifying for the Poles.

Ukraine struggled to qualify, finishing in third place in the group round before taking down Slovenia across two legs. The team is contesting its second ever Euro after the tournament four years ago. Back then it failed in the group stage and will undoubtedly look to remedy the situation.

The underdog

Northern Ireland is the underdog here, qualifying for its first ever Euro tournament on the strength of a very weak group that included the likes of Romania, Hungary, Finland, Faroe Islands and Greece. That said, few expected the Northern Irish to win that group with six wins, one loss and three draws.

Northern Ireland is a cohesive group that could surprise.

Best Player in the Group

This is a challenging question to answer, but if one player can truly change the outcome of the tournament on his own, that player would be Lewandowski. No other player in this group has the goalscoring prowess of the Polish striker as he showed in qualifying. He does rely on a strong supporting cast, but no one is as lethal as him.

Past Records

Germany has a record of eight wins, four draws and two losses against Northern Ireland. Against Poland the team has won 13, lost one and tied six. Ukraine has never defeated Germany but has lost two and tied another three.

The Ukrainians have defeated Poland three times but drawn and lost two times. Against Northern Ireland the team has never lost but has won two and drawn two.

Poland's record against Northern Ireland includes four losses, three wins and two draws.

Overall, Germany's record against this group includes 23 wins, three losses and tied 13. Poland's record is 6-20-10, Ukraine's record is 5-4-7, while Northern Ireland's record is 6-13-8.

Prediction

Germany wins the group while Poland finishes second on the strength of Lewandowski's scoring prowess.

Related