Euro 2024: An Arsenal-related guide to the finals

Euro 2024 is about to get underway, and there will be plenty of Arsenal talent on show for our supporters to watch as the quest to be champions of Europe begins.

However, as well as those stars who have jetted off to Germany, there are a host of other things that perhaps only our supporters will care about when the action gets underway.

Prepare yourself with plenty of pub trivia ammo ahead of the tournament by reading our Arsenal-related guide to the next four weeks of football:

Records already broken

For the first time, we have hit double figures when it comes to players selected for a European Championships. 10 Gunners will be in Germany, and that doesn’t even include Kieran Tierney who is technically still on loan at Real Sociedad.

That haul surpasses our previous best of nine selected for Euro 2000, and is a huge jump up from the four that went to Euro 2020 just three years ago. Only Bukayo Saka is on both our lists for the last and latest Euros, although Tierney was a Gunner when he featured for Scotland in the previous edition.

Can you name every Arsenal player called up to a Euros? Try our quiz

Clubmates clashing

The draw for the group stage would have brought up plenty of banter at the Sobha Realty Training Centre, as a number of our squad saw their nations paired up during the group stages, ensuring some tasty head-to-head clashes on the horizon.

There will be four fixtures when Gunners go up against each other, starting on the opening night when Kai Havertz’s Germany face Tierney’s Tartan Army. In the second round of group games, David Raya’s Spain tackle holders Italy, for whom Jorginho will hope to feature.

As the group stages come to a close, Jakub Kiwior and William Saliba will put their north London connection to one side when Poland face France, and Oleksandr Zinchenko and Leandro Trossard will be on opposing sides as Ukraine and Belgium aim to book a spot in the last 16.

Our day-by-day guide as to when our Gunners are playing

Get your number

If you’re looking to get a replica shirt to watch the action in, then make sure your favourite Gunner is on the back!

Raya has been handed Spain’s number one, as their first-choice keeper Unai Simon prefers to wear 23, while Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka will once again be England’s number 4 and 7 respectively. Aaron Ramsdale meanwhile has opted for number 13.

Havertz will also don his usual 7 while on international duty, and Jorginho will hope 8 is lucky for him once again having worn it when Italy triumphed at Euro 2020. Trossard will wear 9 for Belgium, Kiwior is Poland’s number 14 while Zinchenko and Saliba have both grabbed the number 17.

Ex-Gunners on the pitch…

There will be three of our former players to look out for during the competition, all of whom boast vast international experience. Granit Xhaka will captain Switzerland at his third finals, while Olivier Giroud is hoping it’s a case of fourth-time lucky as he aims to get his hands on the trophy, having been runner-up in 2016.

Meanwhile, Wojciech Szczesny will also join an elite club as he heads to his fourth European Championships – only 24 players in the competition’s history have seen action in that number before.

…in the dugout…

As well as that trio, there will also be some former Arsenal representation on the touchine, as Sylvinho has taken Albania to just their second finals. Our former Brazilian left-back had previously had short stints in charge of Lyon and Corinthians as well as being assistant manager of Brazil, but after being handed the Albania job in January 2023, he has transformed their fortunes.

After losing to Poland in his opening game, Sylvinho’s side embarked on an eight-match unbeaten run that saw them beat the Poles and the Czech Republic en route to winning their group. He heads into the tournament with a record of eight wins from 14 matches at the helm, but will likely find things tricky after being placed alongside Italy, Croatia and Spain in what seems to be this year’s group of death.

…and in the media

There will be plenty of former Gunners giving their views throughout the competition. Alex Scott will be presenting for BBC Sport, while Ellen White and Cesc Fabregas will be on punditry duties during their coverage. Martin Keown will also be behind the mic on co-commentary duties for the Beeb during some of their matches.

Ian Wright will once again be one of ITV’s go-to guys throughout the tournament, and Karen Carney is also selected as a pundit. On the same channel, Lee Dixon will be guiding us through the action on co-commentary, while when it comes to the radio, Matthew Upson, Theo Walcott and Jen Beattie will be on Radio 5 Live, and Emmanuel Petit will be part of TalkSPORT’s offering.

Find out what channels are showing the action in your country

Illustrious company

All of our current players will be dreaming of lifting the silverware high above their heads on Sunday, July 14, and join a list of former Gunners to have achieved the feat during their time in north London. The majority of those came in 2000 when Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Petit claimed the Championships for France, with soon-to-be clubmates Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord also in the squad. 

Fabregas meanwhile was part of Spain’s team to win the competition eight years later, but no Arsenal player has managed to collect a winner’s medal since. Laurent Koscielny and Giroud coming closest when they finished as runners-up in 2016, as well as Saka at Euro 2020 – both of which came on home soil.