We fancy our chances.
We all know what they say about lies, damn lies and statistics, but we just can’t help but be seduced by boffins crunching numbers.
If you ask us the European Championship quarter-finals are not beyond the realms of possibility for Martin O’Neill’s men.
It may be overly optimistic, but it’s why we’re choosing to ignore the findings of the analytics department of data providers GraceNote Sports on their predictions for Euro 2016.
They claim they have simulated the championship, and its 48 games, 10,000 times, and at the end of it all, they have produced this graphic that makes for mixed reading for Irish fans.
The @GracenoteSports analytics department simulated #EURO2016 10,000 times and came up with this bracket 🇫🇷 🏆 pic.twitter.com/6U9PDv4pAv
— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 25, 2016
They claim we have a 64 percent chance of getting out of the group, and that we will qualify for the knockout rounds as one of the best third-placed teams.
That is the end of the good news, however, as we will play reigning European Champions Spain in the second round, where they are rated as favourites for that encounter by 69-31.
But at least we will have been beaten by a tournament finalist, just like in Euro 2012, as France will lift the trophy by beating Spain on home soil in the final.
According to the simulation.
And if it is any consolation, England will also come unstuck against Spain in the semi-final, while Northern Ireland, unfortunately, will not escape a group that contains Germany, Poland and Ukraine.
