Should the European Championship become a 32-team tournament? (2024)

• Slovakia, ranked 48th in the world by FIFA, beat Belgium, ranked third
• Ivan Schranz gave Slovakia early lead after mix-up in Belgian defence
• Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku twice saw goals disallowed
• Romania upset Ukraine 3-0 in the other Group E game today

There are currently no continental major tournaments at international level that are made up of more than 24 teams. Copa America has just 16 while the European Championship and the Africa Cup of Nations both have 24.

But there is an argument that the Euros is ready to expand to bring it in line with the World Cup by also being a 32-team tournament.

This year, Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard will miss out as Norway failed to qualify, similarly Alexander Isak with Sweden. There is no place for 2016 semi-finalists Wales or 2004 winners Greece.

While they would probably not be contending for the trophy, none of those four teams would look out of place at this year’s tournament and the same can be said for several other European nations. So, maybe it is time for another expansion and one that would simplify qualification to the knockout stage as, like at the World Cup, the top two teams from every group progress while the bottom two are eliminated.

European football certainly has the breadth of quality to justify it and despite UEFA’s claims, it does feel only a matter of time before that decision is made.

The European Championship has been played every four years since 1960, but the tournament looks much different now to how it did 64 years ago.

In 1960, 17 teams entered the competition but the finals were whittled down to just four teams: France, Yugoslavia, Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia.

And for 20 years, that is how it stayed until a decision was made to double the amount of competing teams to eight.

Following triumphs for West Germany (1980), France (1984), Netherlands (1988) and Denmark (1992), the field doubled again to 16.

And with the quality of European football continuing to improve at an exponential rate, the demand for a 24-team tournament grew and was finally passed a few months after the 2008 Championship.

This will be the fourth Euros played with 24 teams and, despite calls to increase to 32 teams, that is how it will stay for the foreseeable future after UEFA confirmed last year that ‘no change has been proposed for the UEFA EURO final tournament”.

The 24 teams have been split into six four-team groups and it is hard to argue against Group B looking like the toughest while Germany, England and possibly even Belgium have been handed seemingly easier draws.

• Group A: Germany, Hungary, Scotland, Switzerland
• Group B: Spain, Albania, Croatia, Italy
• Group C: England, Denmark, Slovenia, Serbia
• Group D: France, Austria, Netherlands, Poland
• Group E: Belgium, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine
• Group F: Portugal, Turkey, Czech Republic, Georgia

One thing in particular to watch out for from Slovakia is their ability to score from outside the box.

Only France (seven) managed more than Slovakia’s five in qualifying. For a team lacking in attacking stardust but with a strong defence, it might be the difference between them getting out of the group or not.

Slovakia fans will be the first to admit that they are not blessed with many players who have experience of playing regularly among Europe’s elite.

But one of their players has that experience in spades. Stanislav Lobotka has made 163 appearances for Napoli since signing four years ago and has 19 matches under his belt in the Champions League.

The 29-year-old is the key cog in an otherwise ageing Slovakia midfield and is part of the spine of the team that will need to click if they are to make it through Group E. Lobotka is not one of those players who will necessarily get you up out of your seat but he is one happy to do the work that others avoid and his passing ability alone is a reason to watch Slovakia matches at Euro 2024.

Somewhat surprisingly, there won’t be too many nations with a better left-sided defensive pairing than Slovakia at Euro 2024.

A partnership of PSG’s Milan Skriniar at left centre-back and Feyenoord’s David Hancko at left-back — who continues to be linked with a move to an elite European club — will certainly be the envy of the other teams in Group E.

There are no doubts among Slovakia supporters that those two are the best players in the squad and they hold the key to their progression beyond the group stage. Skriniar and Hancko led a defence that conceded just eight goals across their 10 matches in qualifying.

If there are doubts over who will provide goals for Slovakia, there are no doubts whatsoever in the pairing whose job it will be to keep them out at the other end.

For all their strength in midfield and attack, Belgium look significantly weaker in defence. Notwithstanding the goalkeeper issue, the players directly in front of Casteels will be put to the test.

If Sir Alex Ferguson’s famous saying ‘Defence wins you titles’ is true, they might be struggling. At the age of 37, record appearance-maker Jan Vertonghen is not necessarily who you want facing up to Europe’s best strikers, nor is makeshift centre-back Axel Witsel.

Wout Faes next to him has top-flight pedigree but his performances for Leicester City in the Premier League were very inconsistent. At full-back, his former club team-mate Timothy Castagne on the left and Thomas Meunier on the right are solid options but hardly among Europe’s elite.

20-year-old Zeno Debast of Anderlecht and 24-year-old Arthur Theate both look destined for big things and will surely make up Belgium’s long-term centre-back partnership. But this tournament may come too soon for them, especially as they are unlikely to start together in Germany over the next few weeks.

As arguably the best goalkeeper in world football, it might be odd to see that Thibaut Courtois’ name is omitted from Belgium’s squad.

He missed the vast majority of the season for Real Madrid after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury but he was fit and available to keep a clean sheet against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final.

Courtois has always been something of a tricky character and a fall out with manager Domenico Tedesco has left him out of favour internationally and his injury gave his manager a decision to make.

Instead, Belgium will take three goalkeepers to the tournament with 19 combined international caps. Koen Casteels — who has 10 of those caps — is expected to be the No 1 choice.

As he has done ever since breaking onto the scene for Belgium in 2010, Romelu Lukaku will lead the line for his country at Euro 2024.

The Chelsea striker comes into this tournament as one of international football’s leading goalscorers with 85 goals and he will hope to continue his strong record at major tournaments here.

Although, for all his goals, he is still without a trophy at this level and, as one of few Golden Generation members still playing, his time is running out.

He has a very strong supporting cast in attack as Manchester City pair Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku are in the squad, as is Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard.

Experience is key in any squad, particularly in a major tournament and two of Slovakia’s three most-capped players are part of the squad in Germany.

Following the international retirement of Napoli icon Marek Hamsik in 2022, defender Peter Pekarik has taken on the mantle as the most-capped player in the squad. The 37-year-old right-back may not be a key player at Hertha Berlin nowadays, but he remains a mainstay in the Slovakia team.

And he is not the only player with more than 100 caps in the squad as Czech-born midfielder Juraj Kucka will move outright third on the list of all-time Slovakia appearances if he plays just once at this tournament. He too is 37 years old and he is also still a key part of the side, missing just two of his nation’s last 14 matches heading into Euro 2024.

Here is the rest of the top five most-capped Slovakia players in the squad:

• Peter Pekarik – 127 caps
• Juraj Kucka – 107 caps
• Ondrej Duda – 72 caps
• Milan Skriniar – 68 caps
• Patrik Hrosovsky, Stanislav Lobotka – 55 caps

At 37 years old, Jan Vertonghen is still going strong for Belgium and will harbour ambitions of adding to his 154 international caps over the course of Euro 2024.

While the former Tottenham centre-back now operates outside the reaches of Europe’s major leagues, he is still a mainstay in his homeland where he made 27 Pro League appearances for Anderlecht this season as they finished third in the Belgian top flight.

While inclusion at the 2026 World Cup cannot be ruled out, this will surely be Vertonghen’s last major tournament.

Here are Belgium’s five most-capped players:

1. Jan Vertonghen – 154 caps
2. Axel Witsel – 132 caps
3. Romelu Lukaku – 115 caps
4. Kevin De Bruyne – 101 caps
5. Yannick Carrasco – 74 caps

Goalkeepers: Martin Dubravka (Newcastle United), Marek Rodak (Fulham), Henrik Ravas (New England).

Defenders: Peter Pekarik (Hertha Berlin), Norbert Gyomber (Salernitana), Denis Vavro (Copenhagen), Milan Skriniar (PSG), Adam Obert (Cagliari), David Hancko (Feyenoord), Vernon De Marco (Hatta), Sebastian Kosa (Spartak Trnava).

Midfielders: Matus Bero (Bochum), Juraj Kucka (Slovan Bratislava), Tomas Rigo (Banik), Patrik Hrosovsky (Genk), Stanislav Lobotka (Napoli), Ondrej Duda (Verona), Laszlo Benes (Hamburg).

Forwards: David Duris (Ascoli), Tomas Suslov (Verona), Ivan Schranz (Slavia Prague), Robert Bozenik (Boavista), David Strelec (Slovan Bratislava), Lubomir Tupta (Liberec), Leo Sauer (Feyenoord), Lukas Haraslin (Sparta Prague).

Goalkeepers: Koen Casteels (Wolfsburg), Thomas Kaminski (Luton), Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest).

Defenders: Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Maxim De Cuyper (Club Brugge), Zeno Debast (Anderlecht), Wout Faes (Leicester), Thomas Meunier (Trabzonspor), Jan Vertonghen (Anderlecht), Arthur Theate (Rennes), Axel Witsel (Atletico Madrid).

Midfielders: Yannick Carrasco (Al Shabab), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Orel Mangala (Lyon), Amadou Onana (Everton), Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa), Arthur Vermeeren (Atletico Madrid), Aster Vranckx (Wolfsburg)

Forwards: Johan Bakayoko (PSV), Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City), Romelu Lukaku (Roma), Dodi Lukebakio (Sevilla), Lois Openda (RB Leipzig), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal).

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Today’s Group E gets underway at 6pm local time.

That’s 5pm BST, 12pm EDT and 9am PDT.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Belgium vs Slovakia on the fourth day of the 2024 European Championship.

Belgium have somewhat flattered to deceive in recent international tournaments but head to Germany as one of the stronger teams at this European Championship, led by the remnants of their ‘golden generation’.

Slovakia face a tough challenge against the current world number three side today and their manager, Francesco Calzona, admitted last week that his side would be “delighted” with a draw.

Stick with us for all the big match build-up before minute-by-minute coverage of the game itself.