Euro 2016 Battle of the Fans: The home nations

The 2016 European Championship Final’s get underway this evening as the 24 qualified nations compete for one of the most prestigious trophies in the world of sport.

While the action on the pitch is obviously the main focus of attention this summer and we’re hoping to see plenty of drama unfold in France, it’s the fans that really make football the most popular sport on the planet.

That’s why the guys at Stay Sourced have come up with their ‘Battle of the Fans’ concept which focusses on the supporters where they’ve created a fan profile for each country and looks at their strengths, weaknesses, how many European tournaments that country has played in, their best previous result and how many miles the fans have had to clock-up during qualifying.

We’ve decided to feature the home nations; England, Wales, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, with a record four of the five British Isles countries taking part in the Euro finals this summer.

As you can see from the graphics below, this is the eighth European competition that England have competed in but they’ve never reached a final yet. Will this finally be the Three Lions’ year?

This is the first time Wales and Northern Ireland have qualified for the finals so they’ll be looking to impress with Chris Coleman’s Welsh side some people’s dark horses to do well this summer.

The Republic of Ireland have competed in two previous tournaments but have never gotten out of the group stages so Martin O’Neill will be hoping it’s third time lucky for the Irish.

Check out the graphics for yourself below: