Eurozone finance ministers pick the replacement for Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem on Monday, with four countries led by Portugal battling for the challenge of guiding the eurozone currency bloc through much needed reforms.

Finance ministers from Latvia, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Portugal have thrown their hats into the ring with a decision expected Monday afternoon when the 19 Eurogroup ministers cast their vote at a closed session in Brussels.

The job is one of the most strategic in the European Union, tasked with guiding economic policy in the face of clashing opinions and resistance, most notably by Germany.

"I fully expect that the process will take one or two rounds," a senior eurozone official said ahead of the vote, on condition of anonymity. "The procedure is set up so that a candidate emerges after only one or two rounds."