England are joined by Slovenia, Denmark and Serbia in Group C.
The Teams
Slovenia
SQUAD
MANAGER: Matjaž Kek
GOALKEEPERS: Vid Belec (APOEL, 21 Caps), Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid, 65 Caps), Igor Vekić (Vejle, 1 Cap).
DEFENDERS: Jure Balkovec (Alanyaspor, 33 Caps), Jaka Bijol (Udinese, 49 Caps), Miha Blažič (Lech Poznań, 32 Caps), David Brekalo (Orlando City, 13 Caps), Vanja Drkušić (Sochi, 7 Caps), Erik Janža (Górnik Zabrze, 10 Caps), Žan Karničnik (Celje, 28 Caps), Petar Stojanović (Sampdoria, 53 Caps).
MIDFIELDERS: Timi Max Elšnik (Olimpija Ljubljana, 15 Caps), Adam Gnezda Čerin (Panathinaikos, 31 Caps), Jon Gorenc Stanković (Sturm Graz, 24 Caps), Tomi Horvat (Sturm Graz, 7 Caps), Jasmin Kurtić (Südtirol,91 Caps), Sandi Lovrić (Udinese, 35 Caps), Benjamin Verbič (Panathinaikos, 58 Caps), Adrian Zeljković (Spartak Trnava, 1 Cap), Nino Žugelj (Bodø/Glimt, 1 Cap).
FORWARDS: Žan Celar (Lugano, 10 Caps), Josip Iličić (Maribor, 81 Caps), Jan Mlakar (Pisa, 17 Caps), Benjamin Šeško (RB Leipzig, 29 Caps), Andraž Šporar (Panathinaikors, 53 Caps), Žan Vipotnik (Bordeaux, 9 Caps).
ROUTE TO GERMANY
Slovenia came through their European campaign with a lot of credit, coming second to fellow group B side Denmark on head to head after finishing level on points. They beat out Finland, Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland and San Marino to qualify with seven wins. This is only the second time they have qualified, the first time was Euro 2000 so they end a 24 year absence here.
KEY PLAYERS
Keeper Jan Oblak is one of their key players, keeping four clean sheets in his eight appearances in qualifying. The Atlético Madrid keeper has a wealth of top level experience and is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Udinese centre back Jaka Bijol is just shy of 50 caps for Slovenia and played every game of their qualifying campaign. Going forward attackers Andraž Šporar and young star Benjamin Šeško provide Slovenia’s threat. They combined for 12 goals and assists in qualifying with the experienced Šporar being supported by Šeško in attack, who is a promising talent and will be looking to showcase his potential.
ONES TO WATCH
Žan Vipotnik will be pushing for a start up front this summer. The 22 year old has broken into the squad over the last year and scored twice in qualifying, he will be looking to add to that tally if given the opportunity here. He is Slovenia’s second youngest scorer behind Šeško.
Orlando City’s David Brekalo is picked in the squad, the 25 year old versatile defender could be one to watch this summer and will look to carry in his his form from North America,
IS ANYONE MISSING?
Not really. Well capped midfielder Miha Zajc may well be disappointed to miss out after being cut for the final squad. Only three players in the squad have more international goals than him.
Denmark
MANAGER: Kasper Hjulmand
GOALKEEPERS: Mads Hermansen (Leicester City, 0 caps), Frederik Rønnow (Union Berlin, 10 Caps), Kasper Schmeichel (Anderlecht, 101 Caps).
DEFENDERS: Joachim Andersen (Crystal Palace, 32 Caps), Alexander Bah (Benfica, 11 Caps), Andreas Christensen (Barcelona, 69 Caps), Mathias Jørgensen (Brentford, 37 Caps), Simon Kjær (Milan, 132 Caps), Rasmus Kristensen (Roma, 21 Caps), Victor Kristiansen (Bologna, 8 Caps),Joakim Mæhle (Vfl Wolfsburg, 45 Caps), Jannik Vestergaard (Leicester City, 41 Caps).
MIDFIELDERS: Mikkel Damsgaard (Brentford, 27 Caps), Thomas Delaney (Anderlecht, 78 Caps), Christian Eriksen (Manchester United, 130 Caps), Morten Hjulmand (Sporting CP, 7 Caps), Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Tottenham Hotspur, 77 Caps), Mathias Jensen (Brentford, 30 Caps), Christian Nørgaard (Brentford, 25 Caps), Andreas Skov Olsen (Club Brugge, 30 Caps).
FORWARDS: Jacob Bruun Larsen (Burnley, 6 Caps), Kasper Dolberg (Anderlecht, 47 Caps), Anders Dreyer (Anderlecht, 3 Caps), Rasmus Højlund (Manchester United, 14 Caps), Yussuf Poulsen (RB Leipzig, 79 Caps), Jonas Wind (Vfl Wolfsburg, 27 Caps).
ROUTE TO GERMANY
Denmark pipped Slovenia to first place in their qualifying group, finishing with seven wins from ten games. That qualifying campaign came off of the back of a disappointing World Cup in Qatar where they finished with one point as they were knocked out in the group stages. They will be looking for a better showing this summer at the Euros, and they were semi finalists three years ago, losing in extra time to England.
KEY PLAYERS
Denmark have maintained a consistent core over the last few years and those players will be key again this summer. It could potentially be Kasper Schmeichel and Simon Kjær’s last tournaments for Denmark and they will want to go out on a high if it is. Andreas Christensen will also be part of the defence and is a talented player for Denmark, comfortable in possession and strong out of it. The midfield consists of Premier League Players Christian Eriksen and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, both experienced for Denmark. Eriksen is a key creative outlet for Denmark and Højbjerg will sit in the midfield adding steel and structure ahead of the defence. Up front Eriksen’s team mate and young Denmark star Rasmus Højlund will look to add to his seven Denmark goals this summer after hitting double figures in his debut season for Manchester United.
ONES TO WATCH
Young defender Victor Kristiansen is looking to make the left back spot his own going forward. The 21 year old comes into this tournament after being art of the Bologna squad that qualified for the Champions League for the first time.
Striker Jonas Wind comes into the tournament after scoring eleven goals and getting sevem assists for Wolfsburg this season. He may start on the bench behind Højlund but provides a good option for Denmark if used, and has more international experience. He has eight goals for Denmark n 27 games, three of those coming in qualifying.
IS ANYONE MISSING?
One of the big names to miss out was Celtic’s Matt O’Riley. The midfielder has been exceptional over the last few seasons in Scotland and has been linked with a big move this summer but hasn’t done enough to get into this squad. Fellow midfielder Jesper Lindstrøm also misses out having played 29 games for Napoli this season and being in the previous World Cup squad.
Serbia
MANAGER: Dragan Stojković
GOALKEEPERS: Vanja Milinković-Savić (Torino, 19 Caps), Đorđe Petrović (Chelsea, 3 Caps), Predrag Rajković (Mallorca, 32 Caps).
DEFENDERS: Srđan Babić (Spartak Moscow, 8 Caps), Nemanja Gudelj (Sevilla, 62 Caps), Nikola Milenković (Fiorentina, 53 Caps), Filip Mladenović (Panathinaikos, 31 Caps), Strahinja Pavlović (Red Bull Salzburg, 35 Caps), Uroš Spajić (Red Star Belgrade, 21 Caps), Nemanja Stojić (TSC, 2 Caps), Miloš Veljković (Werder Bremen, 30 Caps).
MIDFIELDERS: Veljko Birmančević (Sparta Prague, 5 Caps), Mijat Gaćinović (AEK Athens, 27 Caps), Ivan Ilić (Torino, 16 Caps), Filip Kostić (Juventus, 63 Caps), Saša Lukić (Fulham, 46 Caps), Nemanja Maksimović (Getafe, 49 Caps), Srđan Mijailović (Red Star Belgrade, 7 Caps), Sergej Milinković-Savić (Al Hilal, 51 Caps), Lazar Samardžić, (Udinese, 9 Caps), Dušan Tadić (Fenerbahçe, 108 Caps), Andrija Živković (PAOK, 46 Caps).
FORWARDS: Luka Jović (Milan, 35 Caps), Aleksandar Mitrović (Al Hilal, 91 Caps), Petar Ratkov (Red Bull Salzburg, 1 Cap), Dušan Vlahović (Juventus, 27 Caps).
ROUTE TO GERMANY
Serbia exited the 2022 World Cup in the group stages, they conceded eight goals in their three group games which cost them as they threw away leads to Cameroon and Switzerland. They then came into the qualifiers and double wins against Montenegro and Lithuania were enough to put them through in second place, behind Hungary who beat them twice. Two draws to last place Bulgaria were another set of poor results but to little eventual consequence. They come into this tournament with a lot of key players in their prime and this is their first Euro’s appearance as an independent nation (having previously been part of Yugoslavia and FR Yugoslavia in the competition).
KEY PLAYERS
This Serbia side is sprinkled with lots of high quality and high profile players. Midfielder Sergej Milinković-Savić was one of the top and most sought after midfielders in Europe before moving to Saudi Arabia last summer, where he scored 11 goals in his debut season. He is both a goal scoring and creating threat as well as being a physical midfielder. Their main goalscoring threat comes from his club mate Aleksandar Mitrović who has netted 28 times in 28 games this season for Al Hilal. Before that he had plenty of goals in the Premier League and Championship for Fulham, and is Serbis’a all time goalscorer with 58 international goals. Fellow strike partner Dušan Vlahović is another talent, the Juventus striker will be pushing Mitrović to start and is almost too talented to leave out - though I expect them to start with two up top in a 3-5-2. He scored 16 goals this season for Juventus. His club mate Filip Kostić is another top player in this side, with 63 caps so far and a wealth of club experience too. The left sided wide player is an engine up and down the touchline and has the quality to provide the final ball for the strikers. At the back Nikola Milenković has been a very consistent defender over the years. Still just 26 years old, he has 53 caps and has been a mainstay in Fiorentina for the last six years.c
ONES TO WATCH
Lazar Samardžić is an emerging European talent and the attacking midfielder has had a strong season for Udinese. At 22, he is the second youngest player in the squad and will be a mainstay in the team going forward, this could be the tournament for him to breakout.
Centre back Strahinja Pavlović has already been capped 35 times at just 23 years old. A physical presence at the back, Pavlović has already played in five countries and now finds himself a consistent member of the Red Bull Salzburg defence.
IS ANYONE MISSING?
Former Premier League players Marko Grujić and Matija Nastasić did not make the cut for this tournament, along with well capped midfielder Nemanja Radonjić.
England
My Previous England post can be seen here:
The England Squad is finalised
The Matches
(Time in BST)
ROUND 1
Slovenia v Denmark, Sunday 16th June, 5pm, Stuttgart
Serbia v England, Sunday 16th June, 8pm, Gelsenkirchen
ROUND 2
Slovenia v Serbia, Thursday 20th June, 2pm, Munich
Denmark v England, Thursday 20th June, 5pm, Frankfurt
ROUND 3
England v Slovenia, Tuesday 25th June, 8pm, Cologne
Denmark v Serbia, Tuesday 25th June, 8pm, Munich
The Preview
England headline this group and whilst they will know from Euro 2020 that results are the main thing they will be looking to show they are one of the favourites for a reason. I could see them following the same form of 2020 here though, winning the first and last game whilst drawing to Denmark in the middle.
Denmark went through in second with just 3 points in Euro 2020 and will be looking for a more prominent showing here. They have been an inconsistent tournament side over the years but will be hoping that this group of players can see them through the groups, they are tough to break down and have the creativity to hurt teams. If they can create chances for attackers such as Højlund then he will thrive on it.
Serbia are one of those sides who have such a talented side on paper but it doesn’t quite come together. Their qualifying campaign left a lot to be desired and their World Cup exit was disappointing. Sometimes it’s hard to look past the talent and this group of players really could make a mark on this tournament, but question marks over manager Dragan Stojković loom and he will need them to produce something this summer. I do think that they will beat Slovenia and could get a point from Denmark, which would probably see them through as a third place side. However I also wouldn’t be surprised if they disappoint again.
Slovenia look to be the weakest side in this group but they do have some talented players and their recent qualifying campaign will be promising, Having played Denmark in their group they will be aware of what they are coming up against, drawing one of those games. Two losses in two years currently, they are hard to beat and could cause and upset here. I think they will lose to England but Denmark may struggle to see them off again and they will give Serbia a good test too.
I think England will win the group, potentially winning all three but maybe drawing one of their games. Denmark will believe they can follow England through, but I could see them drawing to England and also drawing to one of Serbia or Slovenia, beating the other side. Serbia and Slovenia will look to qualify as well but one or both will miss out, and I think this could be a group where someone qualifies from third. I’m going for Serbia to finish third but won’t be shocked if it’s Slovenia instead.
PREDICTION
England
Denmark
Serbia
Slovenia