The European Football Championship started on Friday, 14 June, with the first match of the tournament - Germany played against Scotland.
Before the start of Euro 2024, UEFA expanded the national teams' applications for the tournament from 23 to 26 players. Despite this, not all players were able to make it to the tournament: Erlin Holland, in particular, with the Norwegian national team, was not selected at all.As for the rest of the players, the reasons for their absence are varied. Some will miss Euro 2024 due to injuries and lost fitness, and some players were not included in the application due to the decision of the coaching staff. We have analyzed the national teams' applications and highlighted five players whose absence will be felt by the teams.
Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)
Thibaut Courtois' omission from the 2024 European Championships could be due to an injury he suffered at the beginning of the season. As a result, Andrey Lunin became Real Madrid's main goalkeeper, while Kun Castells and Mats Sels got a chance in this position in the Belgian national team.Courtois managed to return at the end of the season and was part of Real Madrid's squad for the Champions League final, in which Madrid defeated Borussia Dortmund. However, he still won't play in the European Championships: a month before the announcement of the final application, he was informed by the team's head coach, Domenico Tedesco.
However, the reason for Courtois' absence from Belgium's bid for the Euros is not the goalkeeper's physical condition, but his conflict with the head coach. After taking over as Belgian national team coach, Tedesco stripped Courtois of his team captaincy, to which the goalkeeper responded with accusations that he was "not properly valued" in the national team.
- Statistics in the 2023/24 season: five matches
- Who is in the squad instead: Mats Sels, Kun Castells
David Alaba (Austria)
The absence of David Alaba will be Austria's biggest loss before the start of the European Championship. The main star of the Austrian national team will not play in the tournament due to a torn cruciate ligament in his knee, an injury that the defender suffered in mid-season for Real Madrid.David Alaba is an Austrian footballer of Filipino-Nigerian descent, a center and wing-back player. Despite his injury and absence from the squad, Alaba still made the trip with Austria to the European Championships, where he'll serve as the team's "non-playing captain." He'll be helping head coach Ralf Rangnick out during the European Championships.
- Statistics for the 2023/24 season: 17 matches
- Who is in the squad instead: Kevin Danso, Maximilian Weber, Gernot Trauner
Gavi (Spain)
The 19-year-old Gavi will also miss the European Championship due to injury. And, like David Alaba, he suffered a torn cruciate ligament at the end of 2023 and did not have time to recover before the start of the Euros.Euro 2024 could be the second major tournament in the young Spaniard's career: Gavi has already made his debut for the team at the World Cup in Qatar, playing four matches. Despite his absence, Spain has many other young players, one of whom, 16-year-old Lamin Yamal, is the youngest in the applications of all the Euro teams.
- Statistics in the 2023/24 season: 15 matches, 2 goals
- Who is in the squad instead: Gerard Moreno, Dani Olmo, Pedri
Marcus Rushford (England)
Before the start of the European Championship, the England national team had perhaps the largest extended list of players: 33 players claimed to be in the squad at once. However, even the extended list did not include striker Marcus Rashford, a finalist at the previous Euro 2020.Rashford took part in six England matches in the Euro 2024 qualifiers (scoring two goals). However, he was not included in the final squad due to the decision of the coaching staff - one of the reasons could be the striker's form during the 2023/24 season for Manchester United.
- Statistics in the 2023/24 season: 43 matches, 8 goals
- Who is in the squad instead: Anthony Gordon, Phil Foden, Eberechi Eze
Frankie De Jong (Netherlands)
One of the most recent losses is the absence of the Netherlands midfielder Frankie De Jong at the Euros. The footballer made it to the final squad for the European Championships but later dropped out.De Jong missed the final part of the season due to an ankle injury. And although he was initially included in the squad, he still did not have time to recover for the European Championships.
The Dutch coaching staff initially did not plan to replace De Jong, planning to leave 25 players on the application. However, the day before the start of Euro 2024, he decided to include striker Joshua Zirksei from Bologna.
- Statistics in the 2023/24 season: 30 matches, 2 goals
- Who is in the squad instead: Joey Verman, Georginio Wijnaldum, Ryan Gravenberch
Other Notable Absences
England: Harry Maguire. Marcus Rashford is not the only player who will miss the European Championships due to the head coach's decision. Gareth Southgate did not include several players who had been nominated for the tournament: James Maddison, Jack Grealish, Ben White, and Raheem Sterling. The only exception is Harry Maguire: the center-back was included in the expanded squad, but not in the final application, due to an injury he suffered at the end of the season.France: Christopher Nkunku. Before the 2023/24 season, Nkunku was one of the contenders for a place in the French national team's application: he played for it in the Nations League and came on as a substitute in the June qualifiers for Euro 2024. However, due to constant injuries, French head coach Didier Deschamps decided not to take the player to the tournament.
Germany: Mats Hummels.The defender had a bright second part of the season, during which he helped Borussia Dortmund reach the Champions League final. Despite this, German head coach Julian Nagelsmann decided not to call up the 35-year-old defender, as he has selected a pair of center-backs for the Euros.
Netherlands:Ten Kopmeijers. Another loss for the Dutch national team before the start of the tournament: Kopmeiners was also included in the final bid for the Euros, but dropped out due to an injury he suffered in training.
Italy: Marco Verratti. In the summer of 2023, the midfielder left PSG and joined Qatar's Al Arabi. Since then, the player has stopped being included in the squad by the decision of head coach Luciano Spalletti.
Betting on Euro 2024: Expert Opinion from 1Win Specialists
Euro 2024 promises to be one of the hottest sporting events of the year, and betting on this tournament is already attracting great interest among bettors so you need to try your hand. 1Win experts have prepared a detailed guide to betting on Euro 2024 so that you can make informed choices and maximize your chances of success.
Popular types of bets on the European Football Championship 2024
Euro 2024 betting is characterized by a wide range of options. Here are some of the most popular types of bets:- Match bets: Predicting the outcome of each individual match (win, draw, loss).
- Group stage bets: Picking the team that will finish first in their group, as well as which teams will advance to the play-offs.
- Bets on the tournament winner: Selecting the team that will be crowned the Euro 2024 champion.
- Player bets: Predictions on who will score the most goals, who will receive a red card, etc.