Maybe the fourth time will be the charm for England.

In the prime of what could be called its best “Golden Generation” since winning the 1966 World Cup, England heads to Germany for the Euro Championship as a slight favorite to claim its first international trophy since lifting the Jules Rimet trophy at Wembley 58 years ago.

The 24-team tournament starts Friday with the host playing Scotland. Germany always faces pressure to perform on the international stage, but the primary narrative around Die Mannschaft is midfielder Toni Kroos’ farewell from the sport after completing his club career with another Champions League title at Real Madrid

Reigning World Cup champion France is on par with England, stacked with depth at every position and still with the precocious Kylian Mbappe at the ready to torment defenses. Coach Roberto Martinez has traded one golden generation for another in moving from Belgium to Portugal, hoping talisman and 39-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo can deliver a second title for A Seleçao.

There is no shortage of sports betting markets available for the second-largest soccer tournament in the world, so here are some plays to ponder.

No country’s fans hand-wring about their national team quite like England’s. The Three Lions, who are a +350 option to win the tournament at most sportsbooks, have been on the edge of greatness for six years now. They were pleasant surprises as semifinalists in the 2018 World Cup before suffering an agonizing loss to Italy on penalties in the last Euro final and a gut-wrenching 2-1 defeat to eventual champion France in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinals in which talisman Harry Kane skied a penalty late.

England’s hopes and dreams remain on the shoulders of Kane, England’s all-time scoring leader with 63 goals and 2018 Golden Boot winner. He is a +550 option at Caesars and BetMGM to repeat the feat in Germany, a worthy pick as the team’s penalty taker. A more intriguing option for the Bayern Munich striker could be found at Hard Rock Bet, which has a -125/-110 split for an over/under of 3.5 goals in the tournament.

Phil Foden came into his own in helping Manchester City win its fourth consecutive Premier League title, and Jude Bellingham was a force in his own right in Real Madrid’s La Liga-Champions League double, giving Kane plenty of offensive support up front in England’s expected 4-2-3-1 formation.

The question marks about England’s spine: Who will partner in central defense with John Stones and Declan Rice in the midfield? Which means, England may need to open up and attack.

A run to the semifinals gives Kane five matches and likely two opportunities from the spot to work towards that goal target.

Despite being the defending European champions, the Azzurri are a shadow of the side who lifted the trophy at Wembley three years ago. A second consecutive failed World Cup qualifying campaign followed that title, and roster turnover has begun in earnest. Gone is the splendid defensive tandem of Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini and missing is heir apparent Giorgio Scalvini through a late injury.

There are questions of where the goals will come from beyond Gianluca Scamacca after a breakout season with Atalanta. Add a manager making his first major tournament appearance in Luciano Spalletti, plus Group B being this tournament’s “Group of Death” with Spain, Croatia, and Albania, and the pressure is on the Azzurri to get three points against Albania — far from a given — in their opener to have any chance to advance.

Bettors could turn this to their advantage by picking Italy for a round of 16 exit, with the best plays at ESPN BET (+185) followed by DraftKings (+170).

Yeah, yeah. Real bold taking the chalk here. But there is plenty of support for taking the 25-year-old Mbappe. He has a point to prove in the Euros after being held without a goal during France’s shock exit in the round of 16 versus Switzerland on penalties in 2021.

Mbappe is also free of the drama surrounding his club career, having completed the multi-year wait to move from PSG to Real Madrid. Les Bleus manager Didier Deschamps also is all in with the winger, naming him captain of the squad last year following the retirement of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. Mbappe responded with nine goals and five assists during qualifying.

Mbappe has talented playmakers around him on the attack — Antoine Griezmann now plays more in support, and veteran center-forward Olivier Giroud remains willing to do the dirty work to create chances for others while taking his own.

Mbappe and France know what it takes to win a major tournament, and the expectation is for the superstar to be ruthless in helping Les Bleus to a third European title and first since 2000. Most markets have Mbappe as a +450 choice to lift the Golden Boot, but FanDuel is offering a tick higher at +470.