There has been too much criticism about the imbalance in the qualification process in the first ever 24-team Euro 2016 knockout stage. But after the number of teams were narrowed down to eight, it is obvious that we are going to see a team in the grand finale that has never won the championship.
As it is, we have Poland, Portugal, Wales and Belgium on one side and among these teams only two have had experience of playing a Euro final though they lost in both the occasion. On the other hand of the draw, there are heavyweights Germany, Italy and France and newcomers Iceland, except whom the rest share 11 Euro finals and six trophies among them.
Among those who haven't won, Portugal and Belgium have the best chance to put their name on the trophy. Portugal had their best Euro campaign in 2004 as hosts when the Lius Figo-led ‘golden generation’ flew through the tournament but had to face a setback in the final against the super-defensive Greece. This time Portugal's campaign is centred around Cristiano Ronaldo who rescued them in their final group game against Hungary and also set up the late winner against Croatia in the second round. Nani also showed flashes of inspiration and the easy draw is giving them high hope to play another final.
Belgium, who lost to West Germany in their only final in 1980, have shown some real instinct to win this time when they convincingly beat Hungary in the second round. Since then they have begun to live up to potentials with the midfielders Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Axel Witsel shining in recent matches. Romelu Lukaku has continued to lead the attack and looked sharp. Toby Alderweireld and Thomas Vermaelen have marshalled a defence that has not conceded in their last three games with the impressive Thibaut Courtois largely untroubled in goal.
Poland largely depends on their robust defensive line as their misfiring attackers have posed little threat. Adam Nawalka's team has let in just a single goal all tournament, an extreme bicycle kick by Switzerland's Xherdan Shaqiri in their second round game which they eventually won in a shootout. It was only the second game in 2016 in which they have conceded a goal. Yet Robert Lewandowski, the top scorer in qualifying with 13 goals, only made two attempts on goal so far.
Wales, in their debut Euro, have been boosted into the quarterfinals on the shoulders of Gareth Bale, the world's most expensive player. Bale has scored three goals to help his team top their qualifying group and is now the joint top scorer. Joe Allen and Aaron Ramsey;s midfield partnership has delivered a stable base to feed Bale.
From the other side, it is Iceland who only can make it possible to hold a non-winner final. After coming second in their group, they continued their fairytale to pull off the shock of the tournament by sending England crashing out in the second round.
Their limitations are reserved deep-rooted and their energetic defence, led by Ragnar Sigurdsson, has been rock solid, with a lot of credit also going to a truly a team effort. Their Swedish coach Lars Lagerback has infused his side with a level of organisation and self-belief that will have convinced them that they can catch the hosts France off-guard in the quarterfinal.
Old champions France, Germany and Italy will definitely post a hard fight with their experience but this will be good opportunity for the world to see a new champion holding the trophy at the finale podium.