As Euro 2024 approaches, all squads have now been finalized, each comprising a maximum of 26 players. This year's selections exhibit significant age differences, with the youngest player traveling to Germany being 25 years younger than the oldest. Notably, both players have the potential to break records during the tournament.
Teen Talents
This year's Euro roster includes 11 teenagers, featuring prominent European talents such as Lamine Yamal, Warren Zaire-Emery, Kobbie Mainoo, Arda Guler, Joao Neves, and Arthur Vermeeren, all set for their first major international tournament. Additionally, 18-year-old Leo Sauer from Feyenoord will be representing Slovakia.
Barcelona prodigy Yamal, the youngest player at the Euros, will celebrate his seventeenth birthday just one day before the tournament final. If he plays, he will become the youngest player to ever participate in the Euros. The current record is held by Kacper Kozlowski, who was 17 years and eight months old when he played for Poland against Spain in 2021.
Johan Vonlanthen holds the record for the youngest goalscorer in the Euros, scoring for Switzerland in 2004 at the age of 18. Yamal and Zaire-Emery both have the chance to surpass this milestone during the tournament.
Veteran Presence
The record for the oldest player to participate in the Euros may also be broken. FC Porto's Pepe, a 136-time international, is the only player over 40 in the tournament. Having celebrated his 41st birthday in February, he could become the first player to compete at that age. Currently, Gabor Kiraly holds the record, having played in goal for Hungary in 2016 at the age of 40. The oldest outfield player to participate is Lothar Matthaus, who was 39 during the European Championship at the turn of the century.
Pepe could also become the oldest goalscorer in Euro history, surpassing Ivica Vastic, who was 38 when he scored for Austria in 2008. Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo, both former teammates of Pepe at Real Madrid, also have the potential to claim this record.
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