The 10 Best Players to Miss Euro 2024 Through Injury

In big tournaments that are awaited for four years and condensed into a month, the smallest details can make a difference, so the 10 best players to miss Euro 2024 through injury could be detrimental. Thin margins decide when teams are playing so frequently and with such high stakes. Especially as in international football, the teams are gelled over such long time periods of qualification and friendlies, with teammates gelling together only once every couple of months.

Hence, missing a key player can be as deciding as much as all the tactical preparation that can be done. With that in mind, here are the 10 best players to miss Euro 2024 through injury who will be watching the games from the couch, like the rest of us.

Serge Gnabry (Germany)

Missing out on the Euro and our list of the best German football players right now (by a thin margin), Serge Gnabry had the worst season of his career and now this. Not winning even one of the three trophies the Bavarians were competing for, but then also tearing his muscle when it was all done in the league - at the start of May. Gnabry did play in the Champions League semis against Real Madrid, actually suffering his muscle injury in the second leg, early on. He will be recovered by mid-July, just as the tournament will be finishing. As he would be playing as a home team player, missing the Euro 2024 must be a real kick in the teeth.

David Alaba (Austria)

Austria can be regarded as the second home team of the Euro because they do speak the German language. But for the 2024 Euro they will be missing their key and best player ever - David Alaba. Alaba injured himself in the winter and is one of the rare players on this list who didn't get his dreams duped in the spring. With a cruciate ligament tear, Alaba missed the Champions League final as well. With his return expected for the end of July. At that time, he will be out for 226 days and he will probably have a slow start to the next season.

Sven Botman (The Netherlands)

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Sven Botman’s career isn’t that he won’t be a pillar of the team at the Euros, but that he never made a single cap for the Dutch national team! A Ligue 1 winner! Botman even made the top 10 on our list for the best Premier League defenders in 2023 but got pushed out in the 2024 rankings. In large part, due to this injury which he's been harbouring since March 20th. The tall 24-year-old defender would've been a formidable option for the always-dangerous Dutch. Yet he suffered one of the most feared injuries in all of sport - the cruciate ligament injury. Hence, he is expected to be back only in October of 2024!

Lucas Hernandez (France)

Another player who injured himself in the worst time - during the Champions League semi-finals. Lucas Hernandez had a strong season with Paris Saint-Germain upon signing for the champions of his country, but he won't have the chance to defend France across German stadiums. Injuring his cruciate ligaments, he will sit out until the winter, and we will probably only see him in 2025.

Gavi (Spain)

Despite being only 19, Gavi already has 27 appearances for the Red Fury. The Spanish midfielder has been a key component of the squad but he has missed three-quarters of the season due to a cruciate ligament tear. He will be ready for the preparations for the new season, but not for the biggest roundup of talent in Europe. Gavi played at the World Cup, but with Spain having a bad outing, and the team maturing, the Barcelona player will be ruing his fate. Especially as he has a solid start for becoming one of the country’s leaders in appearances, further down the line.

Marten de Roon (The Netherlands)

Arguably the most charming footballer working today, Marten de Roon has been industrious in his overall career as he is in every single game. Playing in nearly 600 matches. Yet due to a hamstring injury mid May, he missed the biggest game of his club career - the Europa League final. His full recovery is expected in mid-July, so there are no hopes that the tireless midfielder and jovial character could help his fellow Dutchman. A side which has two notable absentees.

Domenico Berardi (Italy)

Making our list as one of the best Italian footballers right now, Domenico Berardi might not be the most sounding name, yet he has been integral for the Azzurri. A part of the side that won the previous Euro, Berardi played in all but one game of that tournament, including the final. Now, he would be arriving as one of the more experienced players, as a 29-year-old. Representing a country hungry for success after missing on the last two World Cups entirely. He is another player who doesn't even have a chance of making it in the nick of time, as his injury is a serious one - an Achilles tendon issue that will keep him sidelined until October.

Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)

One of the pillars of Belgium's golden generation that never was, Thibaut Courtois won't be a part of the probably last dance. Or a shuffle, considering Kevin De Bruyne is the only superstar left. Courtois missed the entirety of the Real Madrid season, pausing from August to March due to a cruciate ligament tear. Then tearing his meniscus in March too. He has recovered and played four games in May, but the national team manager Domenico Tedesco felt that Courtois doesn't have the consistency needed for a tournament.

Hence, he is going to Germany with the trio of Koen Casteels, Thomas Kaminski, and Matz Sels.

Ben Chilwell (England)

Chelsea's Ben Chilwell has had numerous issues with injuries in the springtime of the 2023/2024 season. But unlike his competitor for the left-back position, he has played in some games during that period. Despite this, it is Luke Shaw who earned Gareth Southgate's call-up, while Chilwell was deemed less fit, as he returned to action only in mid-May. Hence, England's going Germany-way with only one natural left-back.

Considering Chilwell played in 21 games for England, all under Southgate, and that the Three Lions are going away with four goalies, it seems that injury was key here.

Nicolo Zaniolo (Italy)

Not the prince that was promised, but Nicolo Zaniolo is still a valuable player for Italy with 19 caps so far. But injuries have been the story of his career and the Italian has yet again suffered a hard one - a fracture of the metatarsal bone. It happened in the match against Liverpool mid May, the 40th match of the season Zaniolo played for the Villans. This proves that he was a valuable team member, even though he produced only three goals.

As the story of many Euros is that they had a breakout star who made the pivotal push in their career on it, Zaniolo and believers in his magic must be devastated not to see 2024 pack his bags.

Of course, the biggest missing person from the Euro 2024 will certainly be Erling Haaland, whose Norway didn’t qualify.