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For England hopefuls, all roads lead to Gelsenkirchen on June 16, where Gareth Southgate’s side will play their first match of the 2024 European Championship.
The big question until then is: who will get to Germany?
Southgate has a team of 23 men, which means there will be a shortage of deserving applicants.
This is very much to be confirmed.
The deadline to submit the final groups for Euro 2024 is 7 June, as groups will need to submit their 23-man squad at least seven days before the opening match of the tournament.
The squad for Euro 2024 will be reduced to 23 after being increased to 26 for Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup to account for the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
England have two pre-Euro 2024 matches in the window, unlike Brazil (Saturday, March 23) and Belgium (Tuesday, March 26).
Jarrad Branthwaite and Anthony Gordon won their first England call-ups, but there is no place for Kalvin Phillips in Southgate’s final squad before making his selection for Euro 2024.
Joe Gomez, who won the last of his 11 senior caps in October 2020, will return from the wild for friendlies at Wembley in March.
Ivan Toney is worried again at the first opportunity after serving an eight-month suspension with the Football Association, but Raheem Sterling is again conspicuous by his absence.
Goalkeepers: Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders: Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Lewis Dunk (Brighton)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Ajax), James Maddison (Tottenham Hotspur), Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Brentford), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
The long list of absences in England’s newest squad is the injury crisis Southgate has been facing lately.
Having had plenty of options to be selected at full-back, the team now seems to be in that position and Southgate hopes that factor will be resolved over the summer.
The England coach will be looking for Gomez to impress in the upcoming friendlies with his versatility.
Southgate’s defensive dilemmas have been aided by Arsenal defender Ben White’s request to make up his mind via England for the time being.
The 26-year-old has played for the Premier League leaders this season but has been playing for the national team since the 2022 World Cup.
White returned early from Qatar for “personal reasons” from the Football Association and then reports surfaced of an alleged rift with England assistant Steve Holland.
Southgate denied such a break on Thursday as he had hoped to accompany the defender in his squad for the Brazil and Belgium matches.
The coach revealed that White would have otherwise been part of his 25-man squad for friendlies, explaining: “Clearly, fit, I can’t sit here and say he doesn’t deserve to be a part of it.
“We, John McDermott and I, got a call from (Arsenal sporting director) Edu last week (and he) said Ben didn’t need to be for England groups at the moment.
“For me it’s a real shame. He’s a player we took to the Euros, a player we took to the World Cup and I spoke to him after Qatar because I wanted to pick him.
“He’s not available to us and there’s no challenge between us and I also have to say there’s never a challenge with (coach) Steve Holland because it’s been discussed in articles and I don’t like that.
“I need that door to be wide open. He would be in this team but he’s not available to us and I have to focus on who can help us.
March 23: vs. Brazil, Wembley, 7 p. m. (GMT)
26 March: v Belgium, Wembley, 19:45 (GMT)
Both matches will be broadcast on Channel Four and can be streamed on the Channel Four app.
England are in Group C and will face Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia.
16 June: v Serbia, Gelsenkirchen, 20:00 (BST)
June 20: v Denmark, Frankfurt, 5:00 p. m. (BST)
25 June: v Slovenia, Cologne, 20:00 (BST)
England: 7/2
France : 4/1
Germany: 7/1
Spain: 8/1
Portugal: 8/1
Belgium: 16/1
Italy: 16/1
Netherlands: 20/1
Denmark: 40/1
Croatia: 40/1
Switzerland: 80/1
Austria: 80/1
Turkey: 82/1
Serbia: 100/1
Scotland: 100/1
Take a look at those Euro 2024 and Euro 2024 betting offers
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