Euro 2020 is just over a week away, and the delayed tournament is set to go forward with a lot of notable names missing over the 16 teams. So, here are the 11 best players missing out on the coveted tournament.
GK: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (Germany)
The German announced that he won’t be taking part in the upcoming tournament at the end of the season, opting to get complementary knee surgery and recovering for the next season instead.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold (England)
The Liverpool star sustained an injury against Denmark in England’s first friendly match before the tournament. He will be out for six weeks and is expected to recover in time for preseason.
CB: Dayot Upamecano (France)
France have an unfairly talented bunch of youngsters to choose from, and it is quite unfortunate that the former RB Leipzig man did not make it into Didier Deschamps’ 26-man squad for the tournament.
CB: Sergio Ramos (Spain)
The Spanish skipper is the most notable exclusion from this year’s Spain squad. His battle with injuries throughout the season have forced Luis Enrique to choose Aymeric Laporte as his replacement instead. No Real Madrid players feature in the Spain squad this time.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk (Netherlands)
We haven’t seen the Liverpool star since Jordan Pickford ended his season in the Merseyside derby. The player is yet to fully recover and will sit out Euro 2020 to be fit for next season.
LB: Sergio Reguilon (Spain)
Reguilon is one of the surprise exclusions from the Spain squad this time around. The Spurs full-back has been decent but has been prone to making mistakes and those now seem to be costly for Luis Enrique’s decision.
CM: James Ward-Prowse (England)
Although there is a chance that the Southampton captain could be called in as the replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold, he was blatantly left out of the England squad, which had a plethora of right-backs and no Ward-Prowse.
CM: Saul Niguez (Spain)
Despite winning the La Liga title after seven years with Atletico Madrid this season, Saul has also been left out of the Spain squad for Euro 2020. His performances were crucial in the Rojiblancos’ title victory this time around.
LW: Marco Reus (Germany)
The Borussia Dortmund captain opted out of selection voluntarily to rest after the exhausting season with the club. He has been replaced by Thomas Muller, and will no doubt be missed regardless.
RW: Mason Greenwood (England)
Manchester United had to withdraw the player from international duty because of injury. Despite being a teenager, Greenwood has been very impressive and this will come as a huge blow to him personally.
ST: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
The 39-year-old came out of retirement for the Swedish national team during the World Cup qualifiers, but sustained an injury at the end of the season with Milan that rules him out for the European Championships this time.
