What every member of the England roster did at Euro 2024

It was fitful, and not always pretty. They made it hard on themselves, including almost losing to Slovakia in what would have been maybe the biggest knockout round upset in tourney history. Through it all, though, England made it back to the Euro final in 2024. And once again, football failed to come home, with Spain winning 2-1. That’s not the ideal result, but England’s tournament was impressive, even though manager Gareth Southgate ultimately stepped down after the loss. Who did what to get England oh-so-close to finally winning the Euro tourney, though? Here is a breakdown of what every member of the England roster did in Germany this summer.

Aaron Ramsdale and Dean Henderson (1 of 25)

We are pairing these two together because they did exactly what basically everybody hoped for at Euro 2024. Honestly, even Ramsdale and Henderson were likely cool with their role on the squad. The only way either of these two keepers was seeing the pitch was if something happened to Jordan Pickford. Nothing happened, and so neither keeper played for even a second. Phew.

Lewis Dunk (2 of 25)

Of the English players, non-goalie edition, who didn’t see a second of action, Dunk was always the one who felt most like a “break glass in case of emergency” guy. At Brighton, Dunk is a cornerstone, a club legend. However, the centre back is 32 and has made six appearances for England. He was there for veteran presence on the back line if things got really pear-shaped, but they never did.

Joe Gomez (3 of 25)

Gomez, like Dunk, didn’t see the pitch. The 27-year-old is a regular at Liverpool, a tougher club to make the cut for, and he can play fullback in a pinch as well as his regular centre back role. In the end, Gareth Southgate never needed him, and now it feels like his time playing for England is done outside of friendlies.

Adam Wharton (4 of 25)

There were a couple young England midfielders that made the Euro 2024 roster we figured were there to be part of the experience and maybe play a couple minutes in a blowout or what have you. One of them, who we will get to, ended up with a much larger role than we predicted. Wharton, well, his Euro was more as expected. The 20-year-old Crystal Palace midfielder is the last of the English players who did not see the pitch at all.

Anthony Gordon (5 of 25)

It seems like Southgate may not have been a fan of Gordon. Left chasing several games, Southgate deployed all seven forwards he named to the England roster. Six of them played in at least two games…and then there’s Gordon. He only appeared in one game, coming on in the 89th minute against Slovenia.

Jarrod Bowen (6 of 25)

Bowen got involved in the action a bit at least. He made two substitute appearances, but that’s more than one, and he played 35 total minutes. The West Ham forward even got to take a couple corners. Those corners didn’t yield anything significant, but Bowen did get to be a part — if only a small part — of England’s run.

Ezri Konsa (7 of 25)

Konsa played in three games at Euro 2024, but he did something most of the players who only saw action in a couple of contests did not do. Namely, he got a start. Granted, it was because Marc Guehi was suspended for yellow-card accumulation, but Konsa started and played 78 minutes against Switzerland in the quarterfinal, holding his own. Otherwise, the Aston Villa defender was limited to appearing in the second extra time period against Slovakia to shore up the defense, and got a blip of a “We aren’t going to screw this up!” sub appearance when England took the lead on the Netherlands.

Ivan Toney (8 of 25)

Toney was a bit of a surprise pick, as the striker missed much of the season due to a gambling suspension. His job is putting balls in the net, though, so Southgate brought him. Toney saw 43 minutes of action over three appearances, and his one attempt on net was off target. However, against Switzerland, Toney stepped up to take a penalty kick, and he converted his. That’s why he was brought along.

Eberechi Eze (9 of 25)

Eze saw the field a bit more than we anticipated. He is a winger and attacking midfielder, though, so maybe Southgate saw him as a guy who could attack without being an out-and-out striker late in games. Eze played 99 minutes over three contests, and he attempted two shots. However, neither of the Crystal Palace player’s attempts hit the net. His minutes were also boosted by the fact the Slovakia and Switzerland games both went into extra time.

Luke Shaw (10 of 25)

It would seem there was a bit of subterfuge when it came to Shaw’s health heading into Euro 2024. Having been out with a leg injury for months, the murmurs were that Shaw could be ready for England’s second game in the group stage. That was assuredly never true. The Manchester United defender did not play until the quarterfinals, when he came on as a sub. Shaw also subbed into the semis, before starting the final against Spain. It was his first full game since February. Had Shaw been healthy, he would have been a regular starter. Instead, he got one start, but he did play reasonably well once healthy.

Ollie Watkins (11 of 25)

Watkins barely played, and also became an England hero. The Aston Villa forward saw 59 minutes of action over three games. He came on in the 81st minute against the Netherlands in the semis. In that game he took one shot. It went in and gave England the 2-1 lead in the 90th minute. England would hold on to win 2-1. Watkins fired England into the final, and for that, he had quite the tournament.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (12 of 25)

We understood the idea. Alexander-Arnold is a great passer, an excellent crosser, and a guy who can handle corners and free kicks. He’s also a defensive sieve, which is harder to get away with against high-level competition. So, why not start him in the midfield? Turns out, taking a guy who plays fullback most of the time and trying to wedge him into the England midfield wasn’t a good idea. Southgate abandoned the idea after two inert games. Alexander-Arnold made two more sub appearances after that, but they were perfunctory.

Conor Gallagher (13 of 25)

When Southgate moved on from starting Alexander-Arnold, Gallagher was the first guy to get a chance to start in the midfield. The box-to-box midfielder didn’t do much remarkable, which was also true over his four substitute appearances as well. Gallagher didn’t attempt a single shot, and he ended up playing 118 minutes over his five games. His Euro was about as middle of the road as possible. Gallagher was basically invisible, which means he didn’t do anything to hurt England, but also didn’t really help.

Cole Palmer (14 of 25)

Okay, so Southgate decided not to start Palmer. He had options, so we can understand that. However, it took the England manager too long to realize Palmer needed to be his go-to microwave offense option as a sub. Eventually he got wise that the Chelsea superstar changed the landscape for England. Palmer converted a penalty kick against Switzerland, yes, but he also assisted on Watkins’ goal against the Netherlands, and he scored England’s sole goal in the final. You can count on one hand the guys who had a better Euro for England than Palmer.

Kobbie Mainoo (15 of 25)

Like Wharton, we thought Mainoo was a young midfielder here for the experience. Whoops! Mainoo barely played in the opener against Slovakia, and didn’t play at all against Denmark. At that point, our presumption seemed fair. Against Slovenia, though, Mainoo was brought into the midfield at halftime for Gallagher. He picked the pace up enough that the teenager would start for England the rest of the way. Mainoo will be a staple for Manchester United going forward, and also apparently England.

Kieran Trippier (16 of 25)

With Shaw hurt, Trippier played the good soldier and started at left back, even though he is a natural right back. Then, when England switched to a back three, he moved into the midfield to play box to box. Trippier, a reliable veteran for club and country, held his own. Unfortunately for England, he picked up a knock that kept him out of the final, but by then Shaw was healthy enough to step in for him.

Marc Guehi (17 of 25)

To think, if not for an injury to Harry Maguire, Guehi would have been on the bench, possibly not playing at all. Instead, the 24-year-old stepped in to start at centre back owing to a lack of other options. The Crystal Palace defender proved up to the task. While yellow-card accumulation led to him being suspended, Guehi started the other six games for England. The country has a new centre back for the next decade, it would seem.

Jordan Pickford (18 of 25)

We move onto the England players who appeared in all seven games. Let’s start in goal and move outward. It was noted during the final that Pickford has played every competitive minute for England since Southgate took over. That remains true. The Everton keeper allowed six goals, no real howlers in the mix though, and made 17 saves. Pickford had two clean sheets, and he was crucial to England’s run to the final.

John Stones (19 of 25)

Manchester City gave England the rocks of its back line. Stones started all seven games at centre back for England, and played 690 minutes. That was out of a possible 690 minutes. Even with all those minutes, he only picked up one yellow card, and only committed four fouls. Stones’ discipline proved crucial for England on defense.

Kyle Walker (20 of 25)

Sure, Pepe starting for Portugal at centre back at the age of 41 was really impressive. However, Walker starting at right back, and running around as much as he did, at 34 was just as impressive. He played 690 minutes as well, and in that time ran almost 75 kilometers. Walker remains one of the fastest players on the pitch, and he was bombing up and down for England. He recovered balls, he got in on the attack, he was all over the place. Walker will be missed when he hangs up his cleats.

Phil Foden (21 of 25)

England fans were singing of Foden extensively during Euro 2024, but it was probably because the song was just so catchy. Foden was not the worst player for England during the tournament, but he was maybe the most disappointing. He started all seven games, and he took 13 shots. Two of them hit post. However, Foden didn’t score a goal or pick up an assist. The winger drew six fouls, and only committed one, but was subbed for other attackers a few times. This from the player of the year in the Premier League last season. Foden was fine, but fine is not the expectation with him.

Declan Rice (22 of 25)

England deployed Rice as its box-to-box connecting midfielder, and he handled the role with aplomb. He’s shown at Arsenal that he can attack, but England didn’t need attackers. It needed somebody like Rice who could start all seven games and play all 690 minutes and barely put a foot wrong. Rice covered over 85 kilometers, completed 91.2 percent of his passes, put three shots on target, and picked up an assist. It wasn’t glamorous, but Rice was up to the task.

Jude Bellingham (23 of 25)

Part of the problem for Foden was that he offers some redundancy as an attacker with Bellingham around and, well, England’s attack runs through Bellingham. Is he England’s best player? He very well might be. Bellingham scored a great goal in England’s opener and a beautiful, tourney-saving goal against Slovakia in the round of 16. Across seven starts he drew 16 fouls and was at the center of most things that went well for England. He was its player of the tournament.

Bukayo Saka (24 of 25)

Two forwards played all seven games for England, and Saka started all seven of them as well. He won out over the likes of Watkins and Palmer to do that. The Arsenal attacker picked up a goal and an assist and was around the action quite a bit. He’s only 22, so Saka should become even more important for England going forward, if that’s even possible.

Harry Kane (25 of 25)

Sigh. It just…it just won’t happen for Kane. Once again, Kane goes home empty-handed. He scored three goals, making him joint top scorer in the tourney (with, approximately, 28 other guys). That adds to his total as England’s all-time leading goal getter. On the other hand, did the 30-year-old striker look all that good? He was subbed fairly early in the final against Spain. Is it time for England to make Kane a Thomas Muller before he becomes a Cristiano Ronaldo? There’s time before the 2026 World Cup to figure that out. In the meantime, please, Bayern Munich, get this man a trophy.