Euro 2020: could it finally be coming home?

It is 25 years since Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds sang about football coming home.

We are still waiting, but perhaps Euro 2020 (despite it actually being 2021!) could be ours. For all you football fanatics out there, and those among us who just want England to win, whatever the sport, here’s hoping for an upbeat tournament.

England, Belgium and France are joint-favourites, with odds of 5/1, according to TalkSport. Current champions, Portugal, will be hoping that they can defy their 14/1 odds and retain the trophy.

Where is the tournament this year?

Euro 2020 has been planned to be played throughout Europe with games in a variety of countries, including England (London), Scotland (Glasgow), Germany (Munich), Russia (St. Petersburg) and Denmark (Copenhagen). The semi-finals and final will take place at Wembley Stadium, London.

How are the groups looking?

The group stages run from 11^th June to 29^th June.

Group A (Rome & Baku): Turkey, Italy, Wales, Switzerland
Group B (Copenhagen & St Petersburg): Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Russia
Group C (Amsterdam & Bucharest): Netherlands, Ukraine, Austria, North Macedonia
Group D (London & Glasgow): England, Croatia, Scotland, Czech Republic
Group E (Seville & St Petersburg): Spain, Sweden, Poland, Slovakia
Group F (Munich & Budapest): Hungary, Portugal, France, Germany

Who’s in England’s squad?

This week, England manager, Gareth Southgate, has named his provisional 33-man squad.

GK: Dean Henderson (Manchester United)
GK: Jordan Sam Johnstone (West Bromwich Albion)
GK: Jordan Pickford (Everton)
GK: Aaron Ramsdale (Sheffield United)
DF: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
DF: Ben Chilwell (Chelsea)
DF: Conor Coady (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
DF: Ben Godfrey (Everton)
DF: Reece James (Chelsea)
DF: Harry Maguire (Manchester United)
DF: Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa)
DF: Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
DF: John Stones (Manchester City)
DF: Kieran Tripper (Atletico Madrid)
DF Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
DF: Ben White (Brighton & Hove Albion)
MF: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
MF: Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
MF: Jesse Lingard (West Ham United/Manchester United)
MF: Mason Mount (Chelsea)
MF: Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United)
MF: Declan Rice (West Ham United)
MF: James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
FW: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton)
FW: Phil Foden (Manchester City)
FW: Jack Grealish (Aston Villa)
FW: Mason Greenwood (Manchester United)
FW: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur – just!)
FW: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
FW: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
FW: Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund)
FW: Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
FW: Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)

The number of players will need to reduce to 26, so the above squad will shrink shortly.

What do England fans have to say about the forthcoming tournament?

“Given that it was Southgate’s penalty miss that sent us crashing out of Euro ’96, him being England manager this time around seems a little unnerving. It would be amazing if he could make up for what happened 25 years ago, though.” Marc

“When the St. George’s flags are flying all over the country, it fills me with fear. At least during Euro 2020, you know it’s not the rise of the extreme right, but I am still afraid… to get my hopes up. On paper, we are favourites, and we do have a good squad. But if I invest confidence and faith into England, I’m scared to get hurt again and again and again. The national team has pretty much failed since 1966 – we are closer to 2066 than we are to our World Cup victory.” Jackie

“I’m really disappointed not to see Bamford in our squad. Southgate seems to have his favourites – they’re untouchable even if they’re not up to scratch. I am not holding out much hope unfortunately. Winning on home turf would be amazing, though!” Bobby

“I’m sick of the negativity of so many England fans across the country. We’ve had a really disappointing year and a bit because of this pandemic, so it’s about time that something good happened. Let’s get behind England and hope that they come through for us!” Max

What do the Iceni Team think England’s chances are?

Colin: I honestly can’t see anything positive coming out of this tournament. Years of getting my hopes up and then dashed pretty quickly have left me lacking in confidence when it comes to the national team.

Vicki: I’m not quite as pessimistic as Colin is, but I’m not overly confident either. However, I’ll enjoy watching the matches and cheering England on. Hopefully, we will be able to get together with some friends and their children, celebrating a few wins with a BBQ and some drinks.

Kids: Come on, England!