Will England play at Euro 2024 on General Election day? All you need to know as vote called
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called a General Election for 4 July, sparking fears that polling day could clash with Euro 2024.
England will travel to Germany this summer as one of the favourites to win the tournament, having finished as runners-up at Euro 2020. The election will come bang in the middle of the knockout stages, with the hosts kicking the tournament off on 14 June.
The Three Lions will take on Denmark, Serbia and Slovenia in the group stages, with expectations of easily reaching the Last 16. That stage starts on 29 June and ends eight matches later on 2 July.
There will then be a two-day break from games before the quarter-final stages begin on 5 July. As a result, England will not be playing on polling day however they fare in the group stage.
Sunak has called the election with his Conservative Party sitting roughly 21 points behind Labour in the polls. That puts them on course for a crushing defeat on polling day having won a landslide majority in the 2019 election.
England boss Gareth Southgate announced a 33-man provisional squad for the tournament on Tuesday, with Jordan Henderson and Marcus Rashford surprisingly left out. The squad will be further cut down for a final announcement on 8 June, with Southgate admitting he still has some decisions to make.
"There were definitely some players we wanted to see. We were in a similar situation before EURO 2020 where buying some time could help us make better decisions and might help us pick a more balanced squad. There are some injury issues that are very obvious and others where we don't have all the information," the England boss said.
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Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivers a speech to announce the date of the UK's general election, at 10 Downing Street in central London, on May 22, 2024. A UK general election is to be held on July 4, British media reported on Wednesday quoting sources, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with his top ministers. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP) (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)
"Sometimes you need to work with the players and see how they react physically to training. This has been as complicated a group as I can remember picking. I think we can make better decision by giving ourselves more time.
"We're talking about players who are very good and have been an important part of what we've done over a number of years. With Marcus, I just feel that other players in that area of the pitch have had better seasons. It's as simple as that. With Jordan, the determining factor is the injury he picked up around the last camp.
"He's missed five weeks and just hasn't been able to get to the intensity since then. He's a fantastic professional and it was a really difficult call to make because he's been so supportive in my time here. All three boys who were with us last time – including Ben Chilwell – were incredibly professional and took the news really well."
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