UEFA EURO 2024 gets under way on Friday and a wealth of Premier League talent will be on display in Germany.
A total of 104 players who are contracted to play in the 2024/25 Premier League are featuring in the tournament, representing 21 of the 24 qualifying nations.
The group stage draw has set up some fascinating inter-club battles, and squad selections will see Premier League foes become friends, as Adrian Kajumba takes a closer look.
Stars set to shine
A host of Premier League stars will head into the tournament hoping to deliver for their countries just as they did for their clubs during 2023/24.
England's exciting attacking crop, their biggest strength, includes three of the Premier League’s standout performers - EA SPORTS Player of the Season, Manchester City’s Phil Foden, Hublot Young Player of the Season, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, and Arsenal’s 16-goal top scorer Bukayo Saka.
After starring for the division’s best backline, Arsenal’s William Saliba will be aiming to be part of the defensive foundations for well-fancied France. Kai Havertz is one of Germany’s main attacking threats after his stellar debut season with the Gunners.
Bruno Fernandes will be among the players Portugal look to to unlock opposition defences, in the same way as he does for Manchester United.
Fernandes capped a strong finish to the season by leading Man United to FA Cup final victory against Man City. That meant a rare defeat for City midfielder Rodri, unbeaten in 50 Premier League matches, to end his domestic campaign.
Rodri will be key for Spain, while Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk is set to captain the Netherlands, as he does for his club.
Team-mates meet
Group A
Havertz and Arsenal team-mate Kieran Tierney, plus Brighton & Hove Albion’s Pascal Gross, Deniz Undav and Billy Gilmour could face each other in Friday's tournament opener, when host nation Germany face Scotland.
Scotland’s match with Hungary on 23 June may then pit AFC Bournemouth pair Ryan Christie and Milos Kerkez against each other, along with Liverpool’s Andy Robertson and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Group B
One of the group’s most eye-catching fixtures - Spain v Croatia on 15 June - is set to feature a midfield head-to-head between Man City team-mates Rodri and Mateo Kovacic, while defender Josko Gvardiol could also appear.
Arsenal's 2023/24 Castrol Golden Glove winner David Raya and Jorginho, will be in opposite camps for Spain v Italy on 20 June, as will Chelsea’s Armando Broja when his Albania meet Marc Cucurella’s Spain four days later.
Group C
England start their Group C campaign against Serbia on 16 June and Chelsea duo Palmer and Conor Gallagher may have the chance to score past their Stamford Bridge team-mate, goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic.
Four days later, England face Denmark in one of the standout matches and this tie could see numerous club-mates come up against each other.
Brentford (Ivan Toney, Mikkel Damsgaard, Mathias Jensen, Mathias Jorgensen and Christian Norgaard), Crystal Palace (Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi, Dean Henderson, Adam Wharton and Joachim Andersen) and Man Utd (Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw, Christian Eriksen and Rasmus Hojlund) will all be represented in both squads.
Group D
There's a south coast flavour to the 16 June group-opening fixture between Poland and Netherlands, which could see Brighton’s Jakub Moder face fellow Seagull Bart Verbruggen.
The headline match on 21 June will have a strong Liverpool interest through Van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch for Netherlands, plus France’s Ibrahima Konate.
Saliba’s France then come up against fellow Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior’s Poland on 25 June.
Group E
Arsenal team-mates Leandro Trossard and Oleksandr Zinchenko will also be on opposing sides when Belgium and Ukraine meet on 26 June, as will Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku and Mykhailo Mudryk, plus Everton’s Amadou Onana and Vitalii Mykolenko.
Group F
Turkey goalkeeper Altay Bayindir could have the chance to thwart Man Utd team-mates and Portugal pair Fernandes and Diogo Dalot on 22 June. A lesser-known club duel may also come in Portugal’s opener against the Czech Republic if Diogo Jota faces goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros, who is on Liverpool’s books, but has yet to make his debut.
Foes become friends
Premier League allegiances will have to be temporarily put on hold in a number of squads.
England manager Gareth Southgate has successfully cultivated an environment where club loyalties no longer spill into international duty, so there will be no concerns that his 26-man party contains players from rivals Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton, Palace and Brighton.
Several players that were battling it out for the Premier League title last season will also become team-mates elsewhere.
For Spain, Rodri and Raya, while Chelsea's Cucurella is selected. For Netherlands, Man City’s Nathan Ake and Van Dijk, Gravenberch and Gakpo. For France, Konate and Saliba and for Belgium, Trossard and Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku.
Geographical rivalries will also be shelved beyond the England squad. Man City (Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, and Matheus Nunes) and Man Utd (Fernandes and Dalot) are now Portugal team-mates.
Italy’s squad contains Arsenal’s Jorginho and Tottenham Hotspur's Guglielmo Vicario. Arsenal’s Zinchenko and Chelsea’s Mudryk were selected by Ukraine, Belgium have Trossard and Lukaku from the same two clubs, while Chelsea’s Petrovic and Fulham’s Sasa Lukic were picked by Serbia.
Premier League's return to centre stage
The target for the Premier League contingent is clear - progressing through to the EURO 2024 final on 14 July in Berlin.
By then pre-season will be underway and the start of the 2024/25 campaign will barely be a month away, meaning attention will quickly turn back to Premier League matters not long after the European champions have been crowned.
