A total of 11 Arsenal players made their way to Germany this summer to take part in Euro 2024. Out of all the Premier League sides, only Manchester City (14) had more representatives at the prestigious tournament. As all but one Arsenal player got some minutes on the pitch, let us take a look at how they got on.
England
England made it all the way to the final of Euro 2024 and both Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice started all seven matches for the Three Lions.
Bukayo Saka
Although given the unfamiliar role of playing right wingback during the latter stages of the tournament, Saka never once looked out of place. His tireless effort and willingness to take on his man helped provide at least some impetus to an otherwise largely toothless England attack. The Three Lions never got going in the final third but you cannot pin the blame at all on the Arsenal man who was consistently solid, although fell short of anything spectacular. He did produce one moment of pure magic though, his curling equaliser against Switzerland from outside the box. Without this, England could well have been sent home in the quarter-finals.
Declan Rice
After such a good season with Arsenal, expectations were high for Rice in Germany but the 25-year-old never quite found his stride. There were some good moments, including key tackles and a long-range effort that hit the post against Slovakia but he seemed to tire a little as the tournament went on. That was perhaps not surprising as he covered far more distance than any other player at the tournament, though not all of it usefully.
Against the Netherlands, he cheaply conceded the ball 15 yards from his own box which resulted in the game’s opening goal. Then, against Spain, he lost the midfield battle, particularly during the second half. Admittedly La Roja have a particularly exceptional midfield but we have seen Rice compete with the best before.
Aaron Ramsdale
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Jordan Pickford’s main back-up but was never called upon as the Everton shot-stopper enjoyed a fine tournament and one free from injury or suspension. With Pickford further cementing his place as England’s number one, it may be a while before Ramsdale climbs up the pecking order.
Spain
Euro 2024 Champions, Spain, enjoyed a brilliant tournament and it was one that David Raya, now permanently signed from Brentford, played a small part in.
David Raya
Unai Simón was Spain’s first-choice goalkeeper coming into this tournament and Luis de la Fuente avoided making any late changes in this area. So, while Simón did start six of Spain’s matches, he sat out the last of La Roja’s group stage games as qualification was already secured. Raya took his place in the test against Albania and played well, making four saves and collecting six crosses. It was not an overly busy night for the shot-stopper but what he needed to do, he did very competently.
France
Arsenal have had many French internationals over the years but for this tournament, they only had William Saliba representing Les Blues.
William Saliba
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Although Saliba started just one Euro 2024 qualifier, he ended up playing all six of France’s games in the finals. After such a good season in north London, Didier Deschamps felt he simply had to make room for the 23-year-old and he did not disappoint. Saliba was a big part of the reason why the French had the best goals conceded record (per 90 mins) in the entire tournament. The only match he did look vulnerable in was against Spain, but the whole French rearguard struggled against La Roja’s vibrant attack.
Germany
With a kinder draw Germany could well have gone all the way at Euro 2024, providing Kai Havertz with more minutes. As it was though, they had to face Spain in the quarter-finals.
Kai Havertz
Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann could have chosen Niclas Füllkrug to spearhead the German attack but instead, he went for a less conventional option in Havertz. The versatile 25-year-old had a fairly predictable tournament in many ways, showing moments of real class but also lacking composure in front of goal. He did find the back of the net twice but had 17 shots and underperformed his xG by 2.12, a figure only “beaten” by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Belgium
Belgium’s round of 16 elimination meant Leandro Trossard did not enjoy as much action as he might have anticipated this summer.
Leandro Trossard
With Belgium so blessed with talented options capable of playing on the wing, Trossard only appeared for 170 minutes across Belgium’s four Euro 2024 clashes. Across his three appearances, the 29-year-old was relatively quiet in attack, only having two shots and creating three chances. His greatest contributions came defensively as he here won 7 of 13 duels and reclaimed possession 13 times. Given he approached the tournament in such goal-scoring form, he may have been expecting to offer more in attack but Belgium never really got going in Germany.
Italy
It was an underwhelming tournament from the defending champions who looked a shadow of their former selves.
Jorginho
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The midfield metronome started all three of Italy’s group-stage games but was dropped for the round of 16 clash with Switzerland. He cannot have too many complaints with the manager’s decision either as the Brazilian-born man was not having a strong tournament. He started well enough against Albania when allowed to dictate the play but was completely overrun against Spain and did not offer huge improvements against Croatia. It was a familiar tale for the midfielder who again showed his struggles in fast-tempo affairs.
Ukraine
A rather heartbreaking campaign for Ukraine who finished bottom of their group despite collecting four points. Given other sides made the last 16 with just three, that seemed rather harsh.
Oleksandr Zinchenk
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Arsenal fans will have been shocked to see Zinchenko dropped for his country’s final group-stage clash versus Belgium. It was particularly surprising given that, in the game before, versus Slovakia, he was one of the best players on the pitch. Despite this, with Mykolenko back from injury, Serhiy Rebrov named the Everton man at left back and did not make room for Zinchenko in midfield against Belgium. He appeared for the last 30 minutes but failed to make any sort of impression.
Poland
Jakub Kiwior may not be a regular starter for Arsenal but on the international stage, he is far more of a fixture in the Polish XI.
Jakub Kiwior
Given the difficulty of Poland’s group, they were never expected to progress to the knockout stages and this proved to be the case. They did not disgrace themselves and conceding just four non-penalty goals against these three sides is a very respectable record. Kiwior was not the man most responsible for this mind you. Overall, he had an okay tournament but there were mistakes spotted here and there, particularly against France.
Scotland
Despite being just across the border, Scotland only had six Premier League players in their squad, one of which is on the books at Arsenal.
Kieran Tierney
A tournament to forget for the man who spent last season on loan at Real Sociedad. He was part of the team that was battered 5-1 on the opening night against Germany, although he was no worse than any of his teammates on the night. The Scot put in a more solid shift against Switzerland in the next game but his match was cut short after sustaining a hamstring injury, which forced him to miss the crunch tie with Hungary.