Euro 2020 squads by leagues, clubs, age and experience
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With the final squads for Euro 2020 having now been announced, we’ve analysed every one of the 622 players heading to the tournament to pick out some interesting patterns.
Check out the Euro 2020 squads by leagues, clubs, age and experience ahead of the tournament which gets under way on Friday.
Which leagues have most players at Euro 2020?
Almost one in every five players at Euro 2020 ended the domestic season at a Premier League club, making it the most widely-represented division. In addition to the 118 players hailing from the English top flight there are 89 from the German Bundesliga and a further 71 from Italy’s Serie A.
Only four of the 24 nations competing in the tournament will do so without a Premier League player in their ranks: Austria, Finland, Hungary and Russia. However, each of these squads features at least one player who has graced the English top flight earlier in their careers.
Further evidence of English football’s international dominance can be seen in how many players from the Championship have made the cut. The total of 31 players from the English second tier exceeds the 29 who ply their trade in Ligue 1 – the top division in France.
Which clubs have most players?
Two Premier League clubs – coincidentally this year’s Champions League finalists – have the most players travelling to the tournament. Chelsea and Manchester City both have 15 representatives in action, so the battles fought on the pitch only a few weeks ago may soon be rekindled.
If England were to face Spain at any point it could involve up to 12 of the players from the squads that lined up against each other in Porto.
Juventus deserve a mention for being the competition’s most widely spread club, with their players having been called up by nine separate international teams.
Which Euro 2020 squad is the oldest?
Based on the average ages of each squad on the first day of the tournament, the oldest team at Euro 2020 will be Sweden, who clock in at 29 years, 2 months and 4 days.
Interestingly, the world’s top-rated team and one of the favourites, Belgium, possess the only other group of players with an average age above 29. Could this be the last chance for their ‘golden generation’ to shine in a major competition?
At the other end of the scale, two of the other pre-tournament favourites – England and Spain – are among the five youngest teams.
Only Turkey’s squad is collectively younger than the one named by Gareth Southgate; along with Wales these are the only three nations whose average age is below 26. Time will tell whether these youthful teams will be remembered as heralds of a new dawn or unsuccessful reboots.
Who are the oldest Euro 2020 players?
There are three players aged 38 at the tournament, with the oldest being Maarten Stekelenburg of the Netherlands. He first represented his country in 2004 and has a runners-up medal from being their first-choice goalkeeper at the 2010 World Cup.
Despite also making his international debut in 2004, this will be fellow keeper Craig Gordon’s first major international tournament as Scotland are making their first appearance in one since 1998.
The third player in their 39th year is former Real Madrid defender Pepe: the oldest outfield player at Euro 2020 and a reigning champion, having won the tournament with Portugal in 2016.
Incredibly they could face opponents who have been alive for less than half as long, including England’s Jude Bellingham who is one of two 17-year-olds at the tournament. The only younger player at Euro 2020 is also a midfielder: Poland’s Kacper Kozlowski.
Which Euro 2020 squad is the most experienced?
Belgium’s squad has the most international experience at the tournament, with their average player having won more than 50 caps to date. They also have four of the 25 centurions: players who have made at least 100 appearances for their countries.
Meanwhile Group D contains three of the competition’s least experienced squads. Scotland’s players have the least, with just over 17 caps between them on average, while Czech Republic and England collectively only have around 20 apiece.
Which is the tallest Euro 2020 squad?
The three Scandinavian sides – Denmark, Finland and Sweden – are the tallest at the tournament. The Danes have the edge with an average height of 186.1 centimetres, or six feet and one inch.
Germany have the most players who are at least six feet tall, with 20, while Hungary are the only team that couldn’t field a full team of six-footers, possessing only nine in total.
In addition to being one of the youngest teams at Euro 2020, Wales are one of the shortest with an average height of 181.5 centimetres, narrowly taller than defending champions Portugal.
Which Euro 2020 squad has changed the most?
Of the 24 teams at this summer’s tournament, half also qualified for the most recent World Cup. Of these 12, only three have selected fewer than half of the players that they took to Russia in 2018.
Spain have undergone the biggest overhaul since the World Cup, with only six of their 23-man squad making the cut this time around. England and Russia have also rung the changes, retaining the services of just 10 players from the last major tournament.
The least-changed squad is the Belgian one, which contains 18 of the 23 players who made it onto the plane three years ago.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
