Major Line-ups Of UEFA Euro 2024 Participant Countries

Major Line-ups Of UEFA Euro 2024 Participant Countries

The upcoming summer will see the launch of UEFA Euro 2024, one of the world’s most celebrated football championships. Taking place from 14 June to 14 July in Germany, 24 teams will compete for the title after a rigorous UEFA Euro 2024 qualification process over the past year.

The championship will be hosted at some of the most prominent venues in major German cities, such as Olympiastadion Berlin, Fußball Arena Munich, Westfalenstadion, Stuttgart Arena, and many more. With UEFA Euro 2024 taking place this year, the UEFA Euro is finally back to its usual four-year cycle schedule after the postponement of UEFA Euro 2020 to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Italy

Italy is raring to defend its champion title since UEFA Euro 2020, where the team has announced a preliminary lineup of 30 notable players, which includes Riccardo Calafiori (Bologna), Michael Folorunsho (Hellas Verona) and Nicolò Fagioli (Juventus).

Calafiori, who has previously made a meteoric rise at Bologna as a central defender, is one of the main of the Italian lineup. Having set an impressive record in the Italian U21 team, Calafiori will be a vital addition to Italy’s performance in their stint in Germany.

Meanwhile, Fagioli has finally returned to action after a 7-month absence due to an illegal betting scandal. Although Fagioli’s return led to a heated debate on whether he deserved to return or not, Italy coach Luciano Spalletti said Fagioli’s involvement in illegal betting had no correlation with his ability as a footballer.

Surprisingly, the divisive lineup that has been announced by Spalletti does not include some other well-known players, such as Juventus midfielder Manuel Locatelli and Lazio forward and captain Ciro Immobile. However, Samuele Ricci (Torino) and Ivan Provedel (Lazio) have been recalled by Spalletti to Italy’s preliminary lineup, leading to questions whether Spalletti’s decision is the best one for Italy’s potential UEFA triumph this year.

Germany

After a relatively poor performance in the last two World Cups and Euro 2021, Germany is looking to bounce back to maintain its reputation as the Euro host nation this year.

Without much change for the national team, Germany announced that they will stick with their veteran squad for UEFA this year. According to German national football coach Julian Nagelsmann, he prefers to include Borussia Dortmund’s Mats Hummels and Julian Brandt in this year’s Germany squad after their wins against France and the Netherlands in March.

Some of the players who have been confirmed for the German national team this year are Dortmund defender Nico Schlotterbeck, Stuttgart goalkeeper Alex Nubel, Heidenheim’s Jan-Niklas Beste, midfielder Toni Kroos, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, forward Thomas Mueller and many more.

The likes of Bayern’s Leroy Sane, who missed the March friendlies, is also in the Germany squad after recovering from a recent injury.

As part of Group A, Germany will play Scotland in Munich, while Switzerland and Hungary are the other two participating nations in the group.

Scotland

Despite planning to make a memorable entry in the Euro 2024 opener, the Scotland national team announced that they are excluding right-backs Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson due to injury. Meanwhile, Bologna veteran Lewis Ferguson was also left out of the squad due to knee surgery following a significant injury.

Not all hope is lost for Scotland. With Andy Robertson as captain, John McGinn and Scott McTominay in midfield forward positions, and Billy Gilmour as a veteran midfielder, Scotland is poised to start their stint in Euro 2024 with a bang.

Goalkeeper Craig Gordon, Liverpool forward Ben Doak, and strikers Lyndon Dykes and Che Adams are also listed in the Scotland national team’s ranks thanks to their previous achievements in the UK games.

In addition, Scotland’s success in beating Spain 2-0 at Hampden Park has also boosted their confidence to finally leave this year’s qualifying group stage.

Recent defeats such as 0-4 against the Netherlands in March and Northern Ireland, on the other hand, mean that Scotland still has a lot of work to do to prepare their national team properly before facing Germany in Group A in the opening round of Euro 2024.

Final Thoughts

With Euro 2024 returning to its original schedule after the COVID pandemic, the hype for the championship could not be higher. All spectators from around the world, including those from Sierra Leone, can participate in official  Sporting Bet channels to support their favorite European national teams. For that reason, football fans should definitely not miss the upcoming Euro 2024 matches, especially those who call themselves the true fans of their favorite teams.