Italy will look to defend its UEFA Euro Championship title when the teams convene in Germany from June 14 until July 14.
The teams are divided into six groups consisting of the following:
England lost on penalty kicks to Italy in the 2020 final at Wembley Stadium. The Three Lions are once again coached by Gareth Southgate, who has been a steadying force for the National Team.
England’s attack is led by Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) and Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) who create continuous matchup problems for their opponents. England has several other dangerous forwards with Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Manchester City), and Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), all of whom have been mainstays with the National Team.
England is looking to earn its first major international championship since winning the World Cup in 1966.
France, coached by Didier Deschamps, has been on an impressive run over the last decade, winning the World Cup in 2018 and finishing runner-up to Lionel Messi and Argentina in 2022. The French have also had an impressive run in the Euro championships, appearing in nine consecutive tournaments, second-most behind Germany (14).
The French are led by captain Kylian Mbappe, who is widely expected to move from Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid this summer. Mbappe is France’s third all-time leading scorer with 46 goals behind Olivier Giroud (57), and Thierry Henry (51).
Other key players for France include Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Ousmane Dembele, Adrien Rabot (Paris Saint-Germain), and Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid).
One of the bigger surprises was the inclusion of midfielder N’Golo Kanté, who plays for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad from Chelsea last summer and has not played for the National Team in two years. Kante has made 53 appearances for France and appeared in all seven games in the 2018 World Cup campaign. He scored four goals and had six assists over 41 appearances for Al-Ittihad this past season.
Portugal has the look of a potential champion after going 10–0–0 with a plus-34 goal differential during qualifying. In addition to Ronaldo, other key players include Diogo Jota (Liverpool), Joao Felix (Barcelona), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), and Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United).
Host Germany, coached by Julian Nagelsmann, has won three UEFA Euro Championships and is a darkhorse to add a fourth on its home soil. The Germans will get a boost from Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) who will play in the tournament after previously retiring in 2021.
Italy, coached by Luciano Spalletti, has won two titles in the Euro Championships. The Italians are always stellar defensively and are led by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain).