When talkSPORT predicted England’s starting XI for Euro 2024 in 2019, they did not include Harry Kane.
- England has qualified for Euro 2024, despite being in a tough qualifying group with Italy, Ukraine, North Macedonia, and Malta.
- In 2019, England’s starting lineup for Euro 2024 was predicted. The predictions look interesting now with the tournament in Germany just around the corner.
- John Stones and Phil Fodenwere predicted to be in the XI and are almost certain to be in the squad. While the inclusions of players like Jadon Sancho and Raheem Sterling are uncertain.
England has qualified for the Euro 2024 tournament. The Three Lions were assigned to a qualifying group that included Italy, Ukraine, North Macedonia, and Malta. Despite being in a group with the Euro 2020 winners and two other teams that qualified for the finals, England qualified with two matches to spare.
Gareth Southgate will now consider his starting lineup for the finals in Germany, which begin in just under seven months. England will be looking to improve on their performance at Euro 2020, when they came so close to ending their trophy drought only to lose on penalties to Italy in the final.
In 2019, talkSPORT attempted to predict England’s starting lineup for Euro 2024. Following England’s qualification for the tournament, we thought it would be a good time to review their predictions and see how they performed.
Back in 2019, Dean Henderson was 22 years old and impressing on loan in the Premier League with Sheffield United. However, his career has not panned out as many expected it would. Henderson failed to establish himself at Manchester United and his time at the club came to an end this summer when he made the £20m move to Crystal Palace. He has played just 18 minutes of football since signing for the club and is currently out of action with a thigh injury.
On the international stage, Henderson has made just one appearance for his country, coming against the Republic of Ireland in 2020. While it isn’t beyond the realm of possibility that he makes England’s squad for the finals, he will almost certainly be behind Jordan Pickford and Nick Pope in the pecking order.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is a very talented player and one of the best right-backs in the world, but he hasn’t always been a regular under Gareth Southgate. The Liverpool star was named to England’s World Cup squad for 2022, but he only made one appearance, a 34-minute cameo against Wales in England’s final group game.
While Alexander-Arnold will almost certainly be on the plane to Germany, he will face competition for a starting spot from Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker, and Reece James, all of whom are world-class right-backs.
A good choice from talkSPORT. John Stones has emerged into one of the best defenders in the world, playing a key role in a Manchester City side that dominated European football in the 2022/23 campaign.
Southgate is a big fan of the 29-year-old, with Stones being an ever-present during England’s Euro 2020 and 2022 World Cup campaigns. He has had an injury-riddled 2023/24 season so far but, if he’s fully fit, he will be one of Southgate’s first names on the teamsheet.
Back in 2019, Fikayo Tomori had just completed a successful loan spell with Derby County and was trying to make the grade at Chelsea. He failed to become a regular at his boyhood club and eventually made a £25m move to AC Milan. The Canada-born defender has enjoyed great success in Italy, being named in the Serie A Team of the Year as AC Milan won their nineteenth league title in 2021.
Despite thriving in Italy, Tomori has found game-time for England hard to come by, having made just four appearances for his country. He could be on the plane to Germany but it seems likely that he will only be a backup.
Ben Chilwell, who made the £50 million move from Leicester City to Chelsea in 2020, is one of the best left-backs in the Premier League. However, he has suffered numerous bad injuries in recent years and is currently out of action with a significant hamstring injury.
The Chelsea man has picked up 19 England caps and, if healthy, is likely to be named in England’s squad for the tournament. He will be competing with Luke Shaw for a starting berth.
When talkSPORT made their predictions, Jadon Sancho was just 19 years old and flying in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund. He had already made his England debut and it seemed almost certain that he would play a huge role for the national team going forward.
However, his career has stagnated since making the £73 million move to Manchester United in 2021. After a couple of underwhelming seasons, Sancho has fallen out with Erik ten Hag and has been banished from the squad. He needs a move in January and a huge upturn in form if he is going to make England’s Euro 2024 squad.
This was one of the boldest calls talkSPORT made but it doesn’t look like a bad shout at all. In 2019, Conor Gallagher was still just a teenager and thriving in the Championship with Charlton Athletic. Writing about Gallagher, they said:
“Midfielder Conor Gallagher has impressed on loan at Charlton this season from Chelsea and do not be surprised to see him in Frank Lampard’s team next season. Gallagher certainly has the potential to be an international star in the future.”
Gallagher is now a regular at Chelsea and has been capped 10 times by his country. Barring injury, Gallagher is set to make Southgate’s squad for Euro 2024 but is likely to only play a backup role.
Callum Hudson-Odoi has not kicked on as many expected him to. When the article was written, Hudson-Odoi was 18 years old and had already established himself in Chelsea’s first-team. However, he lost his place in the side and was sold to Nottingham Forest for just £5m this summer.
Now 23, the Wandsworth-born winger has made just three appearances for England, with all three coming in 2019. He is still elegible to play for another national side and, earlier this year, he told the Telegraph that he was still thinking about changing allegiances to Ghana. If he does decide to stay loyal to England, he needs a big second half of the 2023/24 campaign to force his way into Southgate’s plans.
Raheem Sterling has been a favourite of Gareth Southgate over the years. He was one of the best players at Euro 2020, earning a spot in the UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament after a number of impressive performances. He then played a key role in England’s 2022 World Cup campaign.
After an underwhelming first season at Chelsea, Sterling has been back to his best in recent times. However, despite a good start to the 2023/24 season, he has not been included in Gareth Southgate’s past two squads. While he is no longer guaranteed to be in the squad for the tournament in Germany, he will surely be involved if he continues his form at club level.
We all know what has happened to Mason Greenwood over the last few years. In 2019, he was still a teenager and had just broken into Manchester United’s first-team. He kept improving in the years after, making his England debut in 2020, but his football career came to a stand-still when he was arrested in January 2022.
Greenwood was suspended for a year-and-a-half and, after the investigation came to an end, he was shipped out on loan to Getafe. Greenwood has impressed in Spain and is a regular for his side but it remains to be seen whether he ever plays for Manchester United or England again.
Incredibly, talkSPORT didn’t think that Kane would be starting for England in Germany. Justifying their decision, they wrote: “Harry Kane would be 31 by the time this tournament comes around and may not be guaranteed a place in the starting XI.” Kane is still playing at an extraordinary high level and is the first name on England’s teamsheet.
Another player also guaranteed to start for England at the tournament is Jude Bellingham. We can let talkSPORT off for not including him in their side, though. When the story was written he was just 16 years old and had only just made his debut for Birmingham City’s first team.
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