The joy of a major tournament lies in discovering players with which you are unfamiliar, a throwback to those World Cups and European Championships of our youth when we embarked upon joyous technicolour journeys of discovery.
That becomes increasingly difficult in the age of information and globalised televised football, but you can still find them.
i has picked one young player from each of the 24 nations at the tournament who may catapult themselves into transfer gossip columns over the next four weeks.
Albania
Kristjan Asllani is now a regular appearance maker in Serie A for champions Inter Milan, so we must look slightly further afield. Mario Mitaj is a 20-year-old left-back who began his career in Greece with AEK Athens and is now at Lokomotiv Moscow. He started seven games in qualifying and head coach Sylvinho believes that he can be the breakout star of a breakout tournament for a breakout footballing nation.
Austria
It would be no surprise if Ralf Rangnick’s starting XI didn’t contain a single player under the age of 23, but even at 24, Romano Schmid counts.
He came through the Red Bull system after leaving Sturm Graz at 17 to join RB Salzburg, established himself in Werder Bremen’s midfield during their promotion campaign in 2021-22 and may well play as the most advanced of three central midfielders in Germany.
Belgium
With Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, Leandro Trossard and Yannick Carrasco all 29 or above, Belgium’s attack is crying out for creativity.
Jeremy Doku has already made the move to the Premier League; PSV winger Johan Bakayoko might be next. Nottingham Forest were seriously interested last summer and, since then, Bakayoko has vastly improved his output for both assists and goals.
Croatia
The correct answer is probably Luka Sucic, a creative midfielder at RB Salzburg who provided eight assists and three goals in 22 league appearances last season.
But with manager Zlatko Dalic leaning heavily on experience (all three starting midfielders will be 30+), Sucic’s minutes are likely to come from the bench when Luka Modric is tired. Can he be a game changer?
Czech Republic
Adam Hlozek has already earned his big move to Bayer Leverkusen and is the young star of Czech football, but it would be no surprise if Martin Vitik soon followed him from Sparta Prague to the Bundesliga. He’s a 21-year-old passing central defender who only made his full international debut last November but started in a back three for the recent 7-1 warm-up friendly win over Malta.
Denmark
There are only two players in Denmark’s squad aged 22 or under and one of those is Rasmus Hojlund – you’ve probably heard of him already. That leaves Victor Kristiansen, who became the most expensive sale in Danish Superliga history when Leicester City paid around £17m in January 2023.
The Foxes’ relegation to the Championship brought a loan move to Bologna, where Kristiansen became the starting left-back and helped them qualify for the Champions League. Talk about a glow-up…
England
No unfamiliar names here, but Adam Wharton went from the Championship’s bottom half to a major tournament in the space of five months and deserves recognition. He’s likely behind at least Conor Gallagher and Trent Alexander-Arnold (and maybe Kobbie Mainoo too) to start next to Declan Rice, but if Rice got injured then there is no better replacement in the squad.
France
The five players aged 24 and under in Didier Deschamps’ squad play their club football at Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal, so we’re hardly unearthing diamonds here.
But Warren Zaire-Emery is the youngest by almost three-and-a-half years, started more than half of PSG’s league games last season and is heralded as the leader of a new, homegrown movement in Paris. If France need more in-game dynamism in midfield, Zaire-Emery may be the wildcard option.
Georgia
When Gabriel Sigua left Dinamo Tbilisi for Basel last summer at the age of 17 for a fee of around £500,000, the expectation was that it would take a couple of years for him to break into the first team.
Then he played 17 times in the league, scored three times and persuaded Willy Sagnol to include him in his final squad for Euro 2024 despite his only senior caps coming as a substitute in friendly wins over Mongolia and Thailand. Sigua is more than four years younger than anyone else in the squad.
Germany
Fully aware that this is a nonsensical pick, but I still don’t think the mainstream audience quite understands just how good Florian Wirtz was in Germany this season. He provided 11 goals and 11 assists in Bayer Leverkusen’s invincible title win, but more important is how he manages to find space and link play.
Rumours suggest that Real Madrid are already sniffing. Wirtz could feasibly lift Germany to the next level in their home tournament.
Hungary
There were some eyebrows raised when Bournemouth paid £15.5m to AZ Alkmaar for a 19-year-old left-back from Hungary, but in his first Premier League campaign there was enough to suggest that Milos Kerkez may quickly make another move upwards. His ability to overlap at speed makes him the perfect modern full-back, potentially the best of his age group in that position in world football.
Italy
Since his move to Inter, Davide Frattesi has established himself as Serie A’s super sub (including a goal in the Milan derby) and thus persuaded Luciano Spalletti to give him the same role in Italy’s squad. Frattesi won’t start, but don’t bet against him scoring a crucial late goal along the way.
Netherlands
There’s a chance that PSG might have let one slip through the net with Xavi Simons, who is a household name in Europe but has yet to truly break out on the international stage. France’s champions re-signed the attacking midfielder from PSV only to loan him out to RB Leipzig, where he ranked joint-second for assists in the Bundesliga.
Now, Barcelona are reportedly interested in a loan deal. A fine tournament could lead to permanent offers, including from the Premier League. Still, he has the right name for Camp Nou.
Poland
This is an old squad still built around Robert Lewandowski, and one that will struggle to leave a mark in a group with France and Netherlands. Michal Probierz must look to add energy behind Lewandowski, and Kacper Urbanski is a 19-year-old attacking midfielder who played 22 Serie A games as Bologna reached the Champions League.
He is unlikely to start the first game, but if Poland are struggling then it might make sense to roll the dice.
Portugal
Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldo bring enough experience for several teams, so might Roberto Martinez be tempted to give young prodigy Joao Neves starts in Germany? The Benfica teenager can play as a No. 6 or take the ball higher up the pitch to link attacks.
He is still raw, but there is no reason why Portugal’s “other Neves” won’t be at a European superclub within the next year. A dark horse to be named Young Player of the Tournament at silly odds.
Romania
The only player under 24 in Romania’s squad is Radu Dragusin, who has already earned his move to Tottenham, so we’re having to cheat here. Is 26 young in football terms? No. Do you know much about Florinel Coman, now 26 and called the “Romanian Mbappe” as a youngster? Also no.
Coman may be used as a counter-attacking threat off the bench, but he has never played club football outside of his homeland and there may be a scout or two writing notes about his pace and dribbling.
Scotland
Precious few options here too, with Tommy Conway (a late call-up) and Billy Gilmour the only players under the age of 25 in a squad that might just have peaked in qualifying.
But in a team that needs greater goalscoring power unless Lawrence Shankland fires, Conway might just get a chance. He scored 10 Championship goals last season and was playing for Bath City in 2021.
Serbia
Dusan Tadic is still the primary creative threat, but Lazar Samardzic might be his heir apparent. Born in Berlin, Samardzic declared for Serbia in February 2023 and already has nine caps.
An attacking midfielder – who can also stay out wide – he plays his club football for Udinese but scouts from at least two Premier League clubs have kept a keen eye on Samardzic’s progress. Force Serbia out of their existential funk and he might get that move this summer.
Slovakia
Born two-and-a-half years after anyone else in Slovakia’s squad with more than 20 caps, Tomas Suslov is a diminutive attacking midfielder who was Hellas Verona’s best player during their successful fight to stay in Serie A.
There is at least one qualifying slot up for grabs in Group E and Slovakia need creativity to improve upon Euro 2020, where their only goals were scored by central defender Milan Skriniar and Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Slovenia
Slovenia are going to try and defend their way to points in Group C. Their success will depend upon the excellence of Jan Oblak and the ability of Benjamin Sesko to score goals on the counter attack (think Patrick Schick for Czech Republic in 2021).
Sesko is a product of the Red Bull conveyor belt and has been linked with a massive summer move to Arsenal. After a successful Bundesliga season, he’s ready to make the next step up. Time to add £10m onto the price tag.
Spain
Whenever Lamine Yamal steps onto the pitch in Euro 2024, he will become the youngest player in the competition’s history. Luis de la Fuente will, like Barcelona, try to reduce the pressure and responsibility on a forward born in 2007 (I know, urgh), but Lamal has already scored twice for his country, has played in 10 Champions League games and, most ludicrously, already has more senior caps than nine players at Spain’s disposal. If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.
Switzerland
The only forward in Switzerland’s squad with more than 10 international goals is Breel Embolo, who is still fighting to get fully fit after a cruciate ligament tear followed by a thigh strain. Which brings us to Dan Ndoye, the third Bolognese representative on this list and a winger who seems to delight in being moved higher and higher up the pitch.
If Switzerland play on the counter, look for Ndoye’s pace to stretch the game. He’ll need to service whichever striker is pleading for clear chances in front of goal.
Turkey
We’re ignoring Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz, two of the four teenagers in Turkey’s squad, for they have already earned moves to Real Madrid and Juventus respectively. Instead it’s Semih Kilicsoy, a player of whom you probably have not heard.
Kilicsoy only made his debut on 4 June against Italy, but is on the plane because he scored 11 league goals (only 20 starts) for Besiktas this season despite only turning 18 last August. He is part of a large group of forwards hoping to ease the burden on Cenk Tosun, the only Turkish forward with more than five international goals.
Ukraine
Mykhailo Mudryk’s £80m move to Chelsea hasn’t gone well, but Georgiy Sudakov may well be the next player to leave Ukrainian football for mega money.
All three of London’s biggest clubs have been linked with a move for an attacking midfielder whose career was interrupted by war but who played every minute of Shakhtar Donetsk’s Champions League group stage campaign. Having successfully made the leap from Ukraine’s Under-21 squad, Sudakov’s agent should keep his phone charged this summer.
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