International football has never really been my cup of tea. The first major tournament I remember was the 2006 World Cup, and at that time my 8 year old brain couldn’t comprehend the idea of anything other than supporting Thierry Henry. Since then, I have stayed firmly in the club before country camp. Ultimately, I don’t really mind who wins, so I will spend the summer supporting the Arsenal players and hoping they make us proud. With that in mind, I sat down and completed my Euro 2024 wall chart, and here will outline my prediction for each of the Arsenal boys hoping to bring the trophy back to their respective nations.
Credit: Arsenal.com
Belgium – Leandro Trossard
Trossard’s recent importance for Arsenal has seen his standing with the national team improve. He has started 4 out of their last 5 games, and also scored in each of the last 2. We know he has goals in him, and we know he has big goals too, and he will prove this again in this tournament. Belgium have a relatively straightforward group, which I expect them to top. I then have them beating Italy in the RO16 before ultimately being kicked out by France in the quarterfinals.
Prediction – 3 goals, including an important winner against Italy in the RO16.
Credit: whufc.com
England – Aaron Ramsdale, Bukayo Saka & Declan Rice
England should top their group, and then beat Georgia and Switzerland in the knock-outs before meeting the same fate as Belgium, losing to France in the semifinal. Personally, I cannot see why England have been made such favourites, when there’s no fit left back in the squad, and very little experience in central defence. If England are to do well, Declan Rice will have to be as monstrous as ever in protecting the backline. In attack, there’s so much talk about Foden, Palmer, Bellingham and how to get them all in the team, but for me, England’s threat will be carried by one man, and that man is Bukayo Saka. There is a reason he’s been England’s POTY the last 2 years running, and if England were to win it, I can see Saka being the player of the tournament. If England don’t succeed, the worry is Saka will be the scapegoat. We have all seen the backpages when he didn’t even start in England’s latest defeat to Iceland.
Predictions – Ramsdale continues to sit on the bench. Declan Rice will perform exceptionally as he always does, but won’t get much recognition in favour of more offensive players.
Saka will finish as England’s top goal contributor and the team’s best performing player.
France – William Saliba
Recently, Deschamps said that our generational, world class centre half “does things I don’t like”. What those things are are a complete mystery to everyone. Nobody else sees these things. He has been generally favoured for Upamecano and Konate, but last night Saliba got a chance to play in a 0-0 draw against Canada and by all accounts, was man of the match. If Saliba can break into the team, he isn’t coming out of it.
Prediction – My wall chart has France making the final and on the road there Saliba will break into the team and make a starting spot his own.
(Photo by Boris Streubel/Getty Images)
Germany – Kai Havertz
Kai will be going into Germany’s home tournament as their starting number 9 under a young modern manager, and is arguably in the form of his life. The ingredients are there for him to potentially explode here. He’s scored 3 goals in his last 6 starts for Germany, and you could say he was Arsenal’s best player in this season’s run-in. My wall chart worked out nicely for Germany, with Belgium, Italy, France, Portugal, England and Spain all finding themselves on the other side of the draw. This left Germany’s route to the final being Serbia, Croatia and Netherlands.
Prediction – 6 goals, including the winner in the final. Player of the tournament. Why not?
Italy – Jorginho
After failing to make the World Cup last time around, the defending champions are back for the Euros, but seem to be a bit hit and miss of late. 4 wins in the last 7 games, and Jorginho has started in each of the last 3 games.
Prediction – makes lots of passes, including one sublime assist, but is knocked out by Trossard’s winner in the RO16.
Credit: Arsenal.com
Poland – Jakub Kiwior
I was at Wales vs Poland in the Euros playoff final in a very dull 0-0 draw, but Kiwior, who was playing week in week out for Arsenal at the time, looked particularly assured. Poland find themselves in possibly the toughest group, along with France, Netherlands and Austria. Unfortunately, whilst being competitive, I can’t see them getting out of that group.
Prediction – Performs solidly enough and will show us what he can do as a left sided centre back.
Scotland – Kieran Tierney
I have Scotland reaching the knockouts as a 3rd place finisher, but ending on the kinder side of the draw, seeing them reach the quarterfinals where they are knocked out by the Netherlands.
Prediction – Performs solidly in a strong campaign, and helps him secure a good move in the summer transfer window (provided he doesn’t get injured).
Spain – David Raya
David Raya and Unai Simon each played 3 games in Spain’s last 6. The general consensus as far as I can see is that Unai Simon will be the number 1 and I can’t pretend to have seen enough of him to know whether that is a good decision or not! As for the team, I have them taking an early exit, losing to Switzerland in the RO16 after an uninspiring tournament.
Prediction – I hope to see Raya get to play 1 group game and perform adequately.
Credit: Arsenal.com
Ukraine – Oleksandr Zinchenko
This will be Ukraine’s first appearance at a major tournament since the Russian invasion, and they find themselves in a favourable group. If there was an underdog team that could go further than people think, it could be Ukraine. Zinchenko will be captain and will play in midfield, something that people may want to see more of for Arsenal should he perform. I have them going out to the Netherlands in the RO16, but an upset there could see them face Scotland in the quarters which opens up a great opportunity for them to make the semifinals.
Prediction – Stands out in the Ukrainian team and scores an emotional winning goal from the spot in one of their fixtures.
Anyone Else To Watch?
Rumoured Arsenal target Benjamin Sesko will be lining up in England’s group for Slovenia. Spain’s Nico Williams is an incredibly exciting prospect and has been linked to many PL teams, so keep an eye out for him. And then I have the Netherlands reaching the semifinals and Xavi Simons is a massively eye-catching talent there.
I myself actually have tickets for a RO16 game. According to my wall chart it will be Switzerland vs Spain, which would be brilliant, as it means I will get to watch Granit Xhaka run the show. He’s had a phenomenal season and I expect he will continue that for his national side.
Who are you excited to see in the Euros this summer? And what do you expect of our Arsenal boys? See my wall chart below!
Arsenal is what life is all about. I am an aspiring Arsenal writer looking to constantly learn more about the game, the team and the club, share my thoughts, and engage with other like minded Arsenal people!
Yepp, starting to get that craving for football again. Was a little bit done after that end of season climax.