Belgium looking for 1st major trophy at EURO 2024 as Romania, Ukraine strive to reach maiden semifinals

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

Belgium are looking to win their first major trophy at the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship (EURO 2024), while fellow Group E teams Romania and Ukraine aim to reach their maiden semifinals and Slovakia hope to pass the Round of 16 for the first time.

- Belgium

Belgium, the world's third-ranked men's national football team, may be seen as the favorite of Group E.

Despite the average age of the squad being above 26, they still have the 10th most valuable national team squad with a total value around €615 million ($660 million).

The Red Devils easily passed their qualifying campaign, going unbeaten in Group E with six wins and two draws with the help of veteran striker Romelu Lukaku's 14 goals.

Other standout players in the squad are Manchester City's world-class midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Arsenal attacker Leandro Trossard.

Since Roberto Martinez's departure in February 2023, the national team has remained unbeaten with head coach Domenico Tedesco at the helm.

Belgium, which clinched two medals in the competition -- silver in 1980 and bronze in 1972 -- lost 2-1 to Italy at the EURO 2020 and had to exit the championship in the quarterfinals.

Belgium squad:

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

Defenders: Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Zeno Debast (Anderlecht), Wout Faes (Leicester), Thomas Meunier (Trabzonspor), Arthur Theate (Rennes), Jan Vertonghen (Anderlecht)

Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Maxim De Cuyper (Club Brugge), Orel Mangala (Lyon), Amadou Onana (Everton), Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal), Arthur Vermeeren (Atletico Madrid), Aster Vranckx (Wolfsburg), Axel Witsel (Atletico Madrid)

Forwards: Johan Bakayoko (PSV Eindhoven), Yannick Carrasco (Al-Shabab), Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City), Romelu Lukaku (Roma), Dodi Lukebakio (Sevilla), Lois Openda (Leipzig)

- Romania

Undisputed qualifying stage winners of Group I with six wins and four draws, Romania aim to reach their maiden semifinals after their first quarterfinal round achievement at EURO 2000.

After missing the last two competitions and being relegated to League C in the 2023 Nations League with a bad performance, the Tricolors aim to return to the good old days with a standout qualifying performance.

Tottenham defender Radu Dragusin is the most standout player in the Romania squad.

They reached the quarterfinals at the EURO 2000, only to be eliminated 2-0 by Italy.

- Romania squad:

Goalkeepers: Horațiu Moldovan (Atletico Madrid), Florin Nita (Gaziantep), Stefan Tarnovanu (FCSB)

Defenders: Nicusor Bancu (Universitatea Craiova), Andrei Burca (Al-Okhdood), Radu Dragusin (Tottenham), Vasile Mogos (CFR Cluj), Ionut Nedelcearu (Palermo), Bogdan Racovitan (Rakow), Andrei Ratiu (Rayo Vallecano), Adrian Rus (Pafos)

Midfielders: Alexandru Cicaldau (Konyaspor), Ianis Hagi (Alaves), Marius Marin (Pisa), Razvan Marin (Empoli), Darius Olaru (FCSB), Deian Sorescu (Gaziantep), Nicolae Stanciu (Damac), Adrian Sut (FCSB)

Forwards: Denis Alibec (Muaither), Daniel Birligea (CFR Cluj), Florinel Coman (FCSB), Denis Draguş (Gaziantep), Dennis Man (Parma), Valentin Mihaila (Parma), George Puscas (Bari)

- Ukraine:

Ukraine passed the EURO 2024 qualifiers through a playoff round after finishing a tough Group C third, behind England and Italy.

They cast out Bosnia and Herzegovina in the playoff semifinal, then Iceland in the playoff final, both with 2-1 scores.

Captain Andriy Yarmolenko is one of the most standout players of the Ukrainian squad. If he scores two more goals for Ukraine, he will catch up with Andriy Shevchenko, the national team's top scorer with 48 goals.

Artem Dovbyk, one of the architects of Spanish side Girona's successful performance this season, and Valencia's Roman Yaremchuk are other prominent names from Ukraine.

Chelsea's Mykhailo Mudryk, Arsenal's Oleksandr Zinchenko and another Gironian midfielder, Viktor Tsygankov, are also not to be overlooked.

Serhiy Rebrov and Andriy Shevchenko, former fellow strikers at Dynamo Kiev, are in vital positions for Ukrainian football.

Rebrov is at the helm of the men's national team, while Shevchenko is in charge of the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF).

- Ukraine Squad:

Goalkeepers: Georgiy Bushchan (Dynamo Kiev), Andriy Lunin (Real Madrid), Anatoliy Trubin (Benfica)

Defenders: Valeriy Bondar (Shakhtar Donetsk), Yukhym Konoplia (Shakhtar Donetsk), Mykola Matviyenko (Shakhtar Donetsk), Bogdan Mykhaylichenko (Polissya Zhytomyr), Vitaliy Mykolenko (Everton), Oleksandr Svatok (Dnipro-1), Maksym Talovierov (LASK), Oleksandr Tymchyk (Dynamo Kiev), Illia Zabarnyi (Bournemouth), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal)

Midfielders: Volodymyr Brazhko (Dynamo Kiev), Ruslan Malinovskyi (Genoa), Mykola Shaparenko (Dynamo Kiev), Taras Stepanenko (Shakhtar Donetsk), Georgiy Sudakov (Shakhtar Donetsk), Serhiy Sydorchuk (Westerlo), Viktor Tsygankov (Girona), Andriy Yarmolenko (Dynamo Kiev), Oleksandr Zubkov (Shakhtar Donetsk)

Forwards: Artem Dovbyk (Girona), Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea), Vladyslav Vanat (Dynamo Kiev), Roman Yaremchuk (Valencia)

- Slovakia:

Slovakia, managed by Italian coach Francesco Calzona, who is also at the helm of Serie A side Napoli, qualified for EURO 2024 by finishing second behind Portugal after 7 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats in 10 matches in Group J of the qualifiers.

National team captain Milan Skriniar, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, organizes the defense while Sparta Prague's Lukas Haraslin, the team's top scorer with three goals in the EURO 2024 qualifiers, is seen as the most effective attacker of the squad.

Stanislav Lobotka from Napoli and Laszlo Benes from Hamburg in the midfield and Robert Bozenik from Boavista in the attack are other standout names in the squad.

- Slovakia Squad:

Goalkeepers: Martin Dubravka (Newcastle), Henrich Ravas (New England), Marek Rodak (Fulham)

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

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

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

- Group E Fixtures:

June 17 (1300GMT): Romania vs. Ukraine (Munich Football Arena)

June 17 (1600GMT): Belgium vs. Slovakia (Frankfurt Arena)

June 21 (1300GMT): Slovakia vs. Ukraine (Dusseldorf Arena)

June 22 (1900GMT): Belgium vs. Romania (RheinEnergieStadion)

June 26 (1600GMT): Slovakia vs. Romania (Frankfurt Arena)

June 26 (1600GMT): Ukraine vs. Belgium (Stuttgart Arena)