Euro: UEFA Euro 2024 Draw

[Wee Baby Seamus]

I think that, with defenders typically aging more gracefully, it’s set up the way you’d want it. I do think that Covid may have had more of an impact on Belgium than anyone else.

But when you’re separating groups by one year, that separation doesn’t mean much to me.

Kompany, Vertonghen, and Vermaelen were all north of 30 by the time Lukaku and De Bruyne hit their primes. That's the main separation. And Belgium weren't nearly as lucky as, say, Italy to have their CBs age gracefully. The separation of one year is just indicating that the youngest of the good Belgian defenders (Alderweireld, 1989) is two years older than the oldest Belgian attacker (Hazard, 1991), with zero overlap between their defensive golden generation and their offensive golden generation.

If Euro 2020 is in 2020 they're in better shape than in 2021, but Vertonghen and Alderweireld had already dropped off heavily between 2019 and 2020.

Anywho, Martinez is a terrible coach, but I think it's fair to say that Euro 2016 and WC 2018 were the only tournaments they could have been expected to win - and 2016 was Wilmots, not Martinez. Even if Euro 2020 is in 2020 I don't think they would've been amongst the favourites.

 

[luiginb]

I'd still start Alderweireld over the likes of Faes.

 

[HajdukSplit]

UEFA will decide at next month's executive committe whether to expand the Euro squads to 26 players like what has been done in all tournaments post-Covid. As of now its back to the traditional 23-man squads

 

[cgf]

UEFA will decide at next month's executive committe whether to expand the Euro squads to 26 players like what has been done in all tournaments post-Covid. As of now its back to the traditional 23-man squads

When will this be? I'm hoping that they keep it at 26 moving forward and don't think there's a great argument against it.