England Euro 2020 squad profile: Aaron Ramsdale replaces Dean Henderson

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The England Euro 2020 squad has been finalised - but Aaron Ramsdale has been added due to UEFA regulation

England Euro 2020 squad
(Image credit: Getty)

The final England Euro 2020 squad was revealed on June 1 - but Aaron Ramsdale has been added to the 26-man group as a replacement for Dean Henderson.

Sheffield United goalkeeper Ramsdale was part of the provisional 33-man squad before it was trimmed to 26 players, along with Ben White, the other late call-up to the squad. While White was added before the deadline as Trent Alexander-Arnold's replacement, however, Ramsdale replaces Henderson, who is struggling with a hip problem.

UEFA regulation permits the call-up of another goalkeeper, should one of the existing three in the team suffer an injury during the tournament. 

Thirty-three players were announced in the initial provisional squad, before Mason Greenwood dropped out with injury, and a further six were cut. Defender Ben Godfrey, midfielders Jesse Lingard and James Ward-Prowse, and striker Ollie Watkins did not make the final cut.

England were one of the final Euro 2020 squads to be revealed, with many others – including group rivals Scotland – releasing theirs in May.

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England Euro 2020 squad

England Euro 2020 squad: Team preview

In their first Euros outing in 1968, England finished third, of four teams. They’re still waiting to improve on that.

Only Belgium and the old Yugoslavia could claim to have performed better at European Championships without winning one. England have been international football’s big underachievers since 1966, from home-soil heroes to the failed Golden Generation. The Three Lions have won one knockout game in the history of this competition. On penalties. As hosts. 

Five years ago, they crashed out to Iceland; as the song goes, we’d seen it all before. What followed, though, was new: an unofficial remodelling of English football, led by some of the greatest minds in the game. Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Marcelo Bielsa all arrived, followed by a cast of club legends making early forays into management. Together, they’ve helped to reshape the country’s tactical make-up into something more modern. An Icelandic volcano turned English football to rubble, but something unprecedented has risen from it. 

There’s hope for the class of 2021. The Three Lions’ current pride isn’t an empty collection of big names – there are still titans of elite European sides, but vitally, there’s a balance that seems to have evaded the national team for 55 years. England finally have defensive midfielders and left-footers. A smattering of the current XI are captains of their clubs. The country’s youth-level champions of recent years are coming of age, giving Gareth Southgate genuine selection migraines. For many, England’s talent reserves are the envy of Europe. 

Since 2018, the pragmatism of Southgate’s World Cup semi-finalists has come to the fore: they are prepared to win ugly, even if a squad packed with attacking verve suggests otherwise. If anything, the 12-month postponement
of Euro 2020 has worked in England’s favour, too, as so many young Lions have received a year’s extra education before the big tournament. 

Could the stars align? We haven’t seen a crop quite like this for some time, and while England doesn’t quite expect, there’s plenty of serious promise. 

Euro 2020 may be a bridge too far for Southgate’s charges, but their journey over the last five years shows they’re on the right track. If they can shake off the nation’s tag as perennial underachievers in football, then immortality awaits. 

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FourFourTwo Staff
FourFourTwo Staff

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