Belgium head into the European Championship with one goal in mind; win the trophy. After shockingly being dumped out of the 2022 World Cup in the group stages manager Roberto Martinez was let go and replaced with German-Italian coach Domenico Tedesco who is tasked with restoring some pride to the Belgians. Euro 2024 is perhaps the last chance for aging legends like Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Axel Witsel to win international silverware and they will hope to take advantage of a seemingly friendly group to build momentum for the tournament.
Alongside them in Group E are Slovakia who have qualified for a third consecutive Euros finals. They have famously won this title before, as part of Czechoslovakia in 1976, but since the countries split in 2016 their best performance saw them reach the last-16 which will be their aim again this year.
Slovakia’s main rivals for the second qualifying spot, providing Belgium clinch the first as they’re expected to, is Ukraine. Succeeding in beating Wales in a play-off just to reach the tournament proper Serhiy Rebrov’s experienced side have their sights set on the knockout rounds as they prepare for a fourth Euros in a row.
Finally, the most difficult task in this group falls to Romania. They failed to qualify for Euro 2020 but are back with a quiet confidence that they can upset the odds and sneak through the group. They have history of just that, with a remarkable run at Euro 2000 that saw them progress through a group containing Portugal, England and Germany before they were defeated by Italy in the quarter-finals.
Here’s everything you need to know about Group E:
Squads for Euro 2024
Belgium:
Goalkeepers: Koen Casteels (VfL Wolfsburg), Thomas Kaminski (Luton Town), Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest).
Defenders: Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Maxim De Cuyper (Club Brugge), Zeno Debast (Anderlecht), Wout Faes (Leicester City), Thomas Meunier (Trabzonspor), Jan Vertonghen (Anderlecht), Arthur Theate (Stade Rennais), 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 (VfL Wolfsburg).
Forwards: Johan Bakayoko (PSV Eindhoven), Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City), Romelu Lukaku (Roma), Dodi Lukebakio (Sevilla), Lois Openda (RB Leipzig), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal).
Slovakia
Goalkeepers: Martin Dubravka (Newcastle United), Marek Rodak (Fulham), Henrich Ravas (New England Revolution)
Defenders: Peter Pekarik (Hertha BSC), Milan Skriniar (Paris Saint-Germain), Norbert Gyomber (Salernitana), David Hancko (Feyenoord), Denis Vavro (Copenhagen), Vernon De Marco (Hatta), Adam Obert (Cagliari), Sebastian Kosa (Spartak Trnava)
Midfielders: Juraj Kucka (Slovan Bratislava), Ondrej Duda (Hellas Verona), Patrik Hrosovsky (Genk), Stanislav Lobotka (Napoli), Matus Bero (VfL Bochum), Laszlo Benes (Hamburger SV), Tomas Rigo (Banik Ostrava)
Forwards: Robert Bozenik (Boavista), Lukas Haraslin (Sparta Prague), Tomas Suslov (Hellas Verona), Ivan Schranz (Slavia Prague), David Strelec (Slovan Bratislava), David Duris (Ascoli), Lubomir Tupta (Slovan Liberec), Leo Sauer (Feyenoord)
Romania
Goalkeepers: Florin Nita (Gaziantep), Horatiu Moldovan (Atletico Madrid), Stefan Tarnovanu (FCSB)
Defenders: Nicusor Bancu (Universitatea Craiova), Andrei Burca (Al-Okhdood), Ionut Nedelcearu (Palermo), Adrian Rus (Pafos), Andrei Ratiu (Rayo Vallecano), Radu Dragusin (Tottenham Hotspur), Vasile Mogos (CFR Cluj), Bogdan Racovitan (Rakow Czestochowa)
Midfielders: Nicolae Stanciu (Damac), Razvan Marin (Empoli), Alexandru Cicaldau (Konyaspor), Ianis Hagi (Alaves), Dennis Man (Parma), Valentin Mihaila (Parma), Marius Marin (Pisa), Darius Olaru (FCSB), Deian Sorescu (Gaziantep), Florinel Coman (FCSB), Adrian Sut (FCSB)
Forwards: George Puscas (Bari), Denis Alibec (Muaither), Denis Dragus (Gaziantep), Daniel Birligea (CFR Cluj)
Ukraine
Goalkeepers: Heorhiy Bushchan (Dynamo Kyiv), Anatoliy Trubin (Benfica), Andriy Lunin (Real Madrid)
Defenders: Mykola Matviyenko (Shakhtar Donetsk), Vitaliy Mykolenko (Everton), Illya Zabarnyi (Bournemouth), Oleksandr Tymchyk (Dynamo Kyiv), Yukhym Konoplya (Shakhtar Donetsk), Bohdan Mykhaylichenko (Polissya Zhytomyr), Valeriy Bondar (Shakhtar Donetsk), Maksym Talovyerov (LASK), Oleksandr Svatok (Dnipro-1)
Midfielders: Serhiy Sydorchuk (Westerlo), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal), Ruslan Malinovskyi (Genoa), Viktor Tsyhankov (Girona), Taras Stepanenko (Shakhtar Donetsk), Oleksandr Zubkov (Shakhtar Donetsk), Mykola Shaparenko (Dynamo Kyiv), Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea), Heorhiy Sudakov (Shakhtar Donetsk), Volodymyr Brazhko (Dynamo Kyiv)
Forwards: Roman Yaremchuk (Valencia), Artem Dovbyk (Girona), Vladyslav Vanat (Dynamo Kyiv), Andriy Yarmolenko (Dynamo Kyiv)
Fixtures
17 June
14:00 Romania vs Ukraine (Munich)
17:00 Belgium vs Slovakia (Frankfurt)
21 June
14:00 Slovakia vs Ukraine (Dusseldorf)
22 June
20:00 Belgium vs Romania (Cologne)
26 June
17:00 Slovakia vs Romania (Frankfurt)
17:00 Ukraine vs Belgium (Stuttgart)
Four players to watch
Belgium: Kevin De Bruyne. At 32-years-old the Manchester City playmaker may not have many major international tournaments left to show off his skills. Belgium disappointed at the 2022 World Cup which would have hurt the pride of a serial winner like De Bruyne who could singlehandedly drive his team to the latter stages of the tournament this time around. De Bruyne’s City team-mate, Jeremy Doku, is one to watch out for too.
Slovakia: Milan Skriniar. The 29-year-old central defender made a name for himself as a stalwart defender for Inter Milan over many years and was included in the squad that reached the 2023 Champions League final. He is regular with the Slovakian national team and having made the domestic switch to PSG last summer, has embedded himself as an integral member of the French Champions’ team. As captain he will take responsibilty for the team and could possibly steer them to the knockout rounds.
Romania: Radu Dragusin. A 22-year-old centre-back who moved to Tottenham in January but failed to make the impact he would have been hoping for. Instead, he can reignite his domestic career with a brilliant performance at this European Championship. If Romania are to reach the knockouts then Dragusin’s skills in central defence will play a crucial role.
Ukraine: Mykhailo Mudryk. A tepid start to his time as a Chelsea player has somewhat dimmed his star but for Ukraine he can show why the Blues paid £89m for him last summer. The 23-year-old lightning quick on the wing and with experienced heads like Roman Yaremchuk alongside him in the forward line expect plenty assists and goals.
Odds to win Group E
Belgium 8/15
Slovakia 15/2
Romania 13/1
Ukraine 10/3
Prediction
Despite a poor outing at the World Cup, Belgium have the pedigree to easily top the group leaving the other three teams to fight for second place. Ukraine are the next most experienced team but with Slovakia and Romania evenly matching them any one of the three could sneak through. The potential is rife in this group for upsets and shock results.
