All participants of Euro 2024 determined: the debutants, Ukraine's rivals and the favorites

Last night, all 24 teams participating in the new Euro became known. Among them are permanent representatives, newcomers, and debutants. And also Ukraine! There are 79 days left until the main tournament of the year. Today OBOZ.UA talks about the most interesting facts of Euro 2024.

Anniversary participation of top national teams

Let's start with the hosts. The German national team is the absolute record holder in terms of the number of participants. Each subsequent European Championship becomes a new achievement for it and a renewal of its sole leadership. Together with Germany's legacy, it will be the 14th time they will go to the tournament. Four national teams are heading to the tournament: Italy, England, France, and the Netherlands, which have qualified for the eleventh championship in their history. Spain is next, and it will be their 12th participation. Their women's national team, by the way, won the first Women's Nations League in winter. What can be a better motivation for the men's team to add another European Cup to the museum?

This is a special story for Denmark. This year it is the only team that will truly celebrate its anniversary. The tenth trip to the European Championship is emphasized by the best team in recent memory, as evidenced by the first appearance at the World Cup two years ago. Moreover, after the semifinals of the last draw, we need to recall the achievements. Incredible Hojlund, creative Andersen, reliable Christiansen, Hjulmand, important for the center, and Schmeichel: the coaching staff will have a good choice and will be able to continue a beautiful story. The fight for first place will be the first challenge for the Danish team.

Ukraine's new attempt at the Euros

This trip to the Euros was a difficult one for our team. Rebrov picked up the team last summer and led almost the entire group stage. We were able to give a fight to the English, fumbled with the Macedonians, got nervous with the Maltese and created a huge scandal with the Italians. That's how the second chance came: qualification through the League of Nations.

The first match was such that we don't really want to remember it. Hard football on a hard pitch, where we scored all three goals ourselves (including an own goal) and a hard-fought victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina (2:1). Many people said it was a rebound, but deep down, I was still happy that Ukraine had gotten its chance at the coveted and important ticket to the championship. Our final opponent was Iceland, a mysterious team with a special style when you expect a surprise on any part of the field.

Yesterday, we were no less nervous, especially after the sharp attacks of the Icelanders. Ukraine almost joined the cohort of Scandinavians who left the Euro one step away. Holland, Edegor, Isak, and Gradetski failed to qualify their teams for the tournament (the Finns had another opportunity), but our guys managed to do it on the second try. Just like with BiH, the comeback saves the game and makes the Ukrainians the winners.

For Ukraine, this will be the 4th European Championship in a row. Last time, we left the group for the first time and reached the quarterfinals. Now our rivals will be Belgium, Slovakia, and Romania. We may have problems with de Bruyne and company, but we have to pass 100% of the others. And Rebrov has 2 months to eliminate the difficult moments that arose during the playoffs.

Euro debutants

The European Championship is 64 years old, but every time we have a debutant. Let's not take into account the early days as a newcomer was a common occurrence then. The real boom in the twenty-first century was in 2016: as many as 5 teams made it to the European Football Forum for the first time (Iceland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Albania, Slovakia). Time passes and still someone flies to the Euro for the first time. And this year is no exception.

Please welcome Serbia. The national team, which this year celebrates only its 16th anniversary, has finally achieved participation in the Euros. Tadic's team lost only to Hungary in the group but overcame the others without any problems (Lithuania, Bulgaria, Montenegro). The team's reputation is not unanimous: the other day, they played a friendly match with Russia and lost 4-0. But the fact of the debut cannot be avoided. The question is whether they will succeed in the group remains as England, Denmark and Slovenia are waiting for them.

And Georgia is here for the first time too! In an incredible playoff, they defeated Luxembourg 2-0. At home, in a grueling match, they defeated Greece in a frantic penalty shootout. The names of the players of the Georgian national team are known throughout the continent: Kvaratskhelia (Napoli) and Mamardashvili (Valencia). Representatives of European clubs Mikautadze, Kiteishvili, Chakvetadze and Davitashvili also play there. The Georgian goalkeeper even made it to the highlights.

Oblak, Djimsiti and Kolo Muani will go to Euro for the first time

A number of well-known players who play for top European clubs or even world football giants will go to the Euros for the first time! Some of them took many attempts to finally get into the company of the best.

Oblak is one of them. Just imagine: Jan is already in his 30s and this is his first Euro game! The Spanish champion, the winner of the Champions League and the Europa League, one of the best goalkeepers in the world, has only now been able to finally defend Slovenia's right to participate in the tournament. The national team has not participated in the forum for 24 years. Back when Yugoslavia still existed, and they crossed paths with it. We have a whole generation of players who share these two stages and who got the only chance in their careers to fight for the cup. These are Kurtić, Blažić, Šporar, Verbić, Šeško, Lovrić, Mlákar. Coach Kek recently tried an experimental lineup and almost lost to Malta. Now he understands who and how he can rely on before the Euros.

Let's not forget about Serbia. As a football team, it is not a very strong team, but its individuals are well known in the world. Vlahović, Mashovic, Mitrovic, Milenković, Lukić, and Pavlovic are not so old. And then there are the players who have been waiting for this (perhaps the only) chance for their entire careers: Ilić, Djuricic and Guedes. Tadic will be 35 years old at the time of the tournament! The geography of Serbia's representatives is vast: from Al Hilal and Udinese to Fulham and Juventus. It took almost 20 years for a whole generation of players to reach the top level status and hear the Serbian anthem at least three times at the main tournament of the continent.

The Albanians also jumped in, also a team of not so big stars, but individually they are strong performers. You know the name of Inter's Asllani or Atalanta's Gjimciti for sure. They also have Strakosha, Muçi, Bahrami, Ismajli. Not so long ago, this team played in the tournament, and this time they got into the death group, where they will face Italy, Croatia and Spain.

What about the tournament favorites?

It's impossible to imagine the Euros without Germany, England, France, or Spain, and a place in such a team is fought for with extreme competition. For example, the French.  The most famous newcomer there right now is Warren Zaïre-Emery, who is tearing it up for PSG and helped them qualify for the tournament. Now it is possible that he will become the main man for Les Tricolores on the fields of Germany.

England is one of the tournament favorites and there are new faces there as well. Nketiah, Palmer, Hudson-Odoi and Wilson are the main players for their clubs, but it is difficult for them to break into the first team. The team has a new problem - Walker's injury - who will miss the competition, so we expect a challenge for one of the center backs.

Spain has lost ground so far, and coach de la Fuente's schemes remain a mystery to everyone. However, we know for sure that Yamal, potentially one of the youngest participants in the Euro, will come to the Euro. Fast, impulsive, efficient: it will be interesting. A whole cohort of players from different clubs still has to recover, so Riquelme, Gavi, Balde and Fati can go to their first Euro together with him.

The main European tournament is just over two months away. This year, the favorites are as powerful as ever, but a few underdogs could also unexpectedly take points away from them or even beat them. Teams with a great history are going for a new title, teams with a first chance are going for the best performance in history. It's going to be a lot to watch, and we're already preparing the popcorn.

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