Which Manchester City players will feature at the 2024 European Championships?

After another historic and successful season, several Manchester City players will now shift their focus to the upcoming European Championships.

From 14 June to 14 July, 24 countries across Europe will compete in this summer’s competition held in Germany.

In Group A, Manuel Akanji and Switzerland will face hosts Germany, as well as Scotland and Hungary. During the qualification period, the Swiss edged out Israel to automatically qualify for the competition. This will be Switzerland’s sixth appearance at the European Championships, where their best record was in 2020 when they made it to the quarter-final stage of the competition.

Meanwhile in Group B, Rodri and Spain will go head-to-head with Manchester City teammates and Croatia international duo Mateo Kovačić and Joško Gvardiol.

Spain and Croatia have Italy and Albania in their group, as one of the harder groups in the opening phase of the competition presents a stern challenge for the Manchester City faithful hoping to secure passage to the quarter-finals.

This will be Spain’s 11th appearance at the European Championships, and they will hope for another strong showing. The Spaniards won the EUROs in 1964, 2008, and 2012, ending as runners-up in 1984, and most recently, finishing third at EURO 2020.

As for Croatia, this will be their seventh appearance since independence. The furthest they have managed was the quarter-final stage in 1996. They have had more success at the FIFA World Cup, however, finishing as runners-up in 2018 and third in 2022. They will hope to replicate their international successes and transfer them to this year’s EUROs.

Moving on to Group C, the Manchester City contingent of Kyle Walker, John Stones, Jack Grealish, and Phil Foden have all been called up to the England squad. They will face Slovenia, Denmark, and Serbia.

It is expected that England will perform well in their group and advance to the competition’s knock-out stages with relative ease. The English were runners-up in EURO 2020, and will hope for another strong performance at this year’s competition.

Given the current talent, skills, and ability of the English squad at Gareth Southgate’s disposal, they will likely be seen as the favourites to win the tournament this year. Time will tell if they will live up to this status.

Then, in Group D, Nathan Aké and the Netherlands will face Poland, Austria, and France. The Dutch are known for their success at the European Championships, having progressed to the semi-finals in five of their 11 appearances at the tournament.

They finished third in 1976, 1992, 2000, and 2004, coming out as winners of the competition in 1988. Their recent history has seen them struggle in competitions, but it is expected they will have another strong showing during this year’s competition.

As for Group E, Kevin De Bruyne and Jérémy Doku have been placed into a difficult collective with Belgium. Their national team will face Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine. The Belgians have never won the EUROs, and while on paper they should be favoured to advance to the competition’s quarter-finals, they will have a difficult task on their hands.

During the EURO qualifiers, Slovakia advanced to the competition from a group with Portugal, Iceland, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Meanwhile, Romania overcame Switzerland and Israel to win their qualification group. Finally, Ukraine barely missed out on direct qualification after taking on England and Italy during the qualification period, and the Ukrainians defeated Iceland and Bosnia and Herzegovina to enter the competition.

In other words, this may be the most difficult group stage in the EUROs, and Manchester City’s Belgian representatives should not underestimate their opposition.

Finally, Portuguese players Rúben Dias and Bernardo Silva, as well as Manchester City-loaned defender Joăo Cancelo, will compete in Group F. They will face Turkey, Georgia, and Czechia.

Portugal have recently faired well in the competition. Since 1984, they have made it to the quarter-finals in seven of their 10 appearances. They finished third in seven of these attempts, finished runners-up in 2004, and won the competition in 2016.

Given the make-up of their group, it is expected that the Portuguese will ease in the competition’s knockout stages.

As for the rest of the Manchester City first-team squad, there are several members who will not travel to EURO 2024. Rico Lewis, Matheus Nunes, Stefan Ortega, Sergio Gómez, and Scott Carson, as well as the on loan Kalvin Phillips, James McAtee, and Josh Wilson-Esbrand, were not selected by their respective national teams to partake in EURO 2024.

Erling Haaland and Oscar Bobb will not be participating as Norway failed to qualify.