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Arun - July 9, 2024
Major tournament football is the pinnacle of the sport for international stars and several legendary names may have played in their last at EURO 2024.
The tournament featured many dramatic underdog runs and a host of exceptionally strong favourites that truly aimed to win it all. However, behind the headline action, the narratives surrounding potential upcoming international retirements have been forgotten.
Here we will look at the biggest football players who may never grace the pitch at an international tournament again after EURO 2024.
N’Golo Kante was somewhat of a surprise admission to the France squad for EURO 2024 considering he plays his football in Saudi Arabia which is considered to be of a lower intensity compared to the European leagues.
The box-to-box midfielder has turned out to be vital for France though as they have grinded their way to the latter stages. In the football betting markets, they are offered at 11/4 to win the tournament ahead of the final games.
The outright favourites are Spain offered at 7/4 in a EURO 24 bet and Kante is one of the stars that can utilise hard work and physicality to make up for the gap in technicality between the teams.
This could be Kante’s final opportunity to add EURO success to an international career that has already featured a FIFA World Cup win. If he continues to close out his career in Saudi Arabia then it is unlikely he will picked for future major tournaments.
When the 2026 World Cup arrives Kante will be 35, and for EURO 2028 he will be 37 – it would be a significant shock if he is still preferred over the younger midfielders when he is deep into his 30s and playing in Asia.
EURO 2024 could well be the stage where fans see one of the most complete midfield players of a generation bow out of the international game.
Toni Kroos captured most of the headlines within the German national team this year by announcing his retirement, although Manuel Neuer could soon follow him – at least on the international side of things.
Germany was knocked out of their home Euro tournament by Spain in the quarter-finals and it has slipped under the radar that alongside ending the German hopes, the Spaniards may have ended Neuer’s major international career.
Neuer is now 38 and while goalkeepers can typically play for longer, Julian Nagelsmann will surely turn to Marc Andre-Ter Stegen in future tournaments as he is six years younger than his compatriot.
The Bayern goalkeeper will likely not settle for being anything but Germany’s number one and so he may retire from playing for his nation before 2026 arrives.
Robert Lewandowski was unable to make a huge impact on his nation at EURO 2024. He was not able to start until their final group-stage game due to a thigh injury and by then Poland was already eliminated.
The Barcelona forward is 35 years old now and the injury issues are mounting up for him which means overall retirement may be just around the corner. Lewandowski has likely put in his final efforts in tournament football for his country and unfortunately, it has not ended with a successful Polish footballing summer.
It would be a huge surprise if any of these three stars appeared at a major tournament again. For Neuer and Lewandowski age and fitness are not necessarily on their side, and for Kante – his age coupled with playing his club football outside of Europe means EURO 2024 should be his final hurrah.
