Three years since the magic of EURO 2020, fans across the globe have waited patiently for the summer of '24 as players bid farewell to club football and don their national teams shirt in hope of bringing home European glory and success.
Additionally during this three year period “post-EURO 2020”, West Ham have shown promising signs of successful development, after finishing in European spots back to back in the Premier League whilst also bringing home their own European glory by winning the UEFA Europa Conference League in Prague at the end of the 2022/23 season.
Because of these successes, the Hammers have developed many promising players whom have been deemed worthy enough to represent their respective countries in the seventeenth edition of the UEFA European Championship, which commences imminently.
Without further ado, here is a look at the Hammers that have been selected to represent their countries at the Euros this summer.
Tomás Souček and Vladimir Coufal;
Even away from East London, the two Czech boys cannot be separated as they board the plane to Germany preparing to face off against Portugal, Georgia and Turkiye in Group F.
West Ham midfielder Tomás Souček will once again wear the captains armband for his country, in hope of leading them to European glory after a successful 23/24 season at West Ham, where he scored many vital match winning goals for the hammers.
Meanwhile his “side kick” Coufal will be looking to boss the back line as Czechia’s starting right-back, returning to the squad after being sent back home from training after a disagreement with Czech manager Jaroslav Šilhavy back in November of 2023.
Czechia will start their Euro 2024 campaign against tough opponent Portugal on the 18th of June.
Alphonse Areola;
Debuting as West Ham’s first choice keeper this season, replacing the ageing Lukasz Fabianski, the Frenchman has impressed many Hammers fans, displaying many incredible performances and picking up “Premier League Save of the Month” in October, subsequently rewarding him with a spot in the French national team this Euros.
Unfortunately for the 31 year old, the Parisian has to miss out on much of the action due to being labelled France’s second choice keeper behind the talented Mike Maignan, who has impressed for AC Milan this season, thus leaving Areola restricted to showing off his class saves strictly for the training ground only.
France will play their opening game against Austria on the 17th of June in Group D where they will also face the Dutch and the Polish in later dates of the group stages.
Jarrod Bowen;
From playing for Hereford in the early years of his career to now playing for England in the Euros, “Hammer of the Year” Jarrod Bowen has earned a well deserved call up from Gareth Southgate to represent his home country in his first national tournament.
Bowen scored 20 goals and grabbed 10 assists for West Ham across all competitions this season.
As of late, Bowen has become a regular call up to the England squad, impressing in recent games and looking as if he will finally net his first international goal, though his childhood dream was crushed when he scored against Belgium at Wembley in March and saw it disallowed for offside.
Despite his critics, Bowen has proven himself to England manager Gareth Southgate and has been awarded a place in the England team, being favoured over players like Jack Grealish and James Maddison. However the 'Hereford Hammer' will have to fight for a place in the starting XI as he competes with Arsenal’s 'star boy', Bukayo Saka.
England were drawn in Group C where they will play against Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia as they look to "bring football home” and end the many years of hurt.
