The build-up to Euro 2024 is almost complete and the tournament itself is just one day away, with Germany playing Scotland on Friday evening and 22 other countries following in the coming days and weeks.
For England, it’s now about final preparations and ensuring Gareth Southgate’s starters are in top form, with one notable absence in John Stones’ training on Wednesday. The centre-back is expected to be the cornerstone of the Three Lions’ hopes, with Trent Alexander-Arnold set to start in midfield in the opening game.
Meanwhile, the manager himself has already suggested he could leave the job if England are not successful this summer, after a few near misses beforehand.
Follow below for the latest news from England, Scotland and the rest of the tournament participants on Thursday, ahead of the highly anticipated start of the European Championship.
Latest news Euro 2024
Euro 2024 injuries: which players are out of this summer’s tournament
9:45 am , Karl Matchet
Stars like Serge Gnabry, David Alaba and Gavi were ruled out with ACL tears and muscle injuries even before the squads were announced, while Luke Shaw was included but faces a race to get fit for England’s tournament opener against Serbia on June 16 .
Others went through the painful process of being called up for the European Championships, only to suffer injuries or receive a rating indicating they would not be able to play a full role, and have since been suspended.
Here’s a look at the players confirmed to have missed the tournament due to injuries suffered since the squads were announced, as well as some others who are in a race against time to be fit for the group stages. ..
Euro 2024 injuries: which players are out of this summer’s tournament?
Everything is against Scotland at Euro 2024 – except one key factor
9:30 am , Karl Matchett
Steve Clarke does NOT endorse this article – and that’s fine, we’ll get back to Steve Clarke in a moment. In case you hadn’t heard, Scotland are heading to their second major international men’s tournament in 26 years. After the subdued, Covid-restricted taste test of Euro 2020 three years ago, Euro 2024 in Germany is the real deal: the Tartan Army will return, with tens of thousands of people released on the continent and in full voice, vibrant after a qualifying campaign that left a nation learned to dream again. Nothing could diminish the excitement now. Nothing.
Just wait. Injuries to whom? One win since when? Germany is finally itself again? Stable on. This wasn’t going to be easy, but just because Scotland squeezed past the minnows of Gibraltar in a friendly last week didn’t mean Scotland would head into the European Championship on a wave of optimism. Clarke hardly repeated the hubris of Ally MacLeod in 1978 when the Scotland manager criticized ‘negative Northmen’ in the press. “What is there to be negative about? Why not just relax and enjoy,” he said. “I just don’t understand why anyone would be negative about a second European Championship in a row.”
Clarke isn’t wrong, but there are, admittedly, some major issues ahead of Friday night’s opener against the hosts.
Jamie Braidwood is on location in Germany – assessing Scotland’s challenges and prospects ahead of their first match:
Everything is against Scotland at Euro 2024 – except one key factor
From Jesse to Jude: Tracing Gareth Southgate’s four stages of English evolution
09:20 , Karl Matchet
England have come a long way since Gareth Southgate’s first game as England manager, back in a distant dream when Joe Hart was in goal, Gary Cahill was the defensive rock and Theo Walcott was on the wing.
It wasn’t fast, nor linear, but England are now a much better team than the one Roy Hodgson saw fall off a cliff at the 2016 Euros. Of course, following England still ends in crushing disappointment. But now that disappointment comes with feelings of hope, pride, and excitement about next time, instead of a crushing onslaught of existential dread.
That’s progress. England met top nations in knockout matches with a defensive game plan and hoped one of their superstars would do something special. Now they’re going up against the best, players confidently passing the ball to each other, in tight spaces, trying to impose their way. That is also progress.
Yet this could be the endgame: Southgate must win Euro 2024 or his journey will surely be over. Can he use the lessons learned from previous tournaments to finally win one? Ahead of what could be his last hurray, we follow the evolution of Southgate’s England from a lowly qualifier in 2016 through four eras to perhaps their final destination in Germany this summer.
Lawrence Ostlere’s epic delves into the history and progress of the Three Lions under Southgate:
From Jesse to Jude: Gareth Southgate’s Four Stages of English Evolution
FA has already drawn up a ‘succession plan’ for Gareth Southgate’s exit to England
09:10 , Karl Matchett
The Football Association has not yet spoken to potential successors to Gareth Southgate, nor received any approaches for the England manager, but says a succession plan has been put in place. The 53-year-old has strongly suggested he will leave the role after Euro 2024 unless the team wins the competition, and even that may not keep him in the job. The FA will still try to judge the tournament as a whole, whatever happens, and are obviously keen to keep Southgate. That is a feeling shared by the team.
Should Southgate still leave, Newcastle United’s Eddie Howe is seen as the first-choice replacement, with Graham Potter also a strong consideration. FA chief executive Mark Bullingham nevertheless answered “no” when asked about talks with a potential successor, during a press conference on the first day of media duties at England’s base camp in Blankenheim.
More on Southgate’s future from Miguel Delaney:
FA has already drawn up a ‘succession plan’ for Gareth Southgate’s exit to England
Euro 2024 latest news LIVE
08:53 , Karl Matchett
Good morning and welcome to the last pre-tournament day of build-up to Euro 2024!
We’ll be bringing you the latest updates and news here on the Independent, including England team briefings, player access later this afternoon – and of course all the build-up to Scotland versus Germany tomorrow night.
Stay tuned: the euro is just around the corner.