As the Euro 2024 qualifying rounds came to an end, many players were happy about their achievements on the world stage. But for some, there was nothing to smile about.
21 countries have already booked their spots at the continental event next summer. All of Europe’s big teams have already bought their plane tickets to Germany. The play-offs, which start in March of next year, will decide the spots of three more countries.
But for some, like a few of the Premier League’s biggest stars, it’s really the end of the road.
Here is a list of the best Premier League players who will not be at Euro 2024.
Alexander Isak
It really was a terrible playoff season for Sweden. The bronze medalists from 1992 didn’t even put up much of a fight in Group F. They couldn’t match the quality and regularity of the top two teams, Belgium and Austria, and even lost 3-0 away at home to Azerbaijan with only ten players.
Alexander Isak wasn’t in Sweden’s last three group games, which didn’t help, but the Newcastle United forward had a hard time making an effect in their first five games as a team that wasn’t doing well.
The 24-year-old only scored one goal in a 5-0 win over Estonia, who, ironically, still have a chance to make Euro 2024 through the play-offs. That’s not good enough for a player as good as Isak.
Dejan Kulusevski
Dejan Kulusevski of Tottenham is another well-known Swedish player in the Premier League who will have the summer off next year. Even though he played up top with Isak, the player wasn’t able to improve his team’s play with his own skills.
It’s too bad, because Kulusevski has been in great shape this season for a Spurs team that is on the rise. He has scored three goals from the right wing and is thriving up front with James Maddison and Son Heung-min, making for a very strong trio.
However, Kulusevski has scored the same number of goals in the Premier League after 12 games this season as he did in all 35 games for Sweden’s national team. The 23-year-old only scored three goals in eight playoff games.
Evans Ferguson
Although the Brighton starlet is one of the best young players in the world, he doesn’t get as many chances for his country as he does for Brighton. Evan Ferguson was only 19 years old when he was put in charge of saving a pretty bad Ireland team that was in a tough group with France, the Netherlands, and Greece, all of whom had won the European Championship before.
Ferguson did score twice in six Euro 2024 qualifiers, but both goals came against weak opponents Gibraltar in Ireland’s only two wins in Group B.
The young player will have many chances to play in big tournaments in the future, but his Ireland teammates will need to get better.
Martin Odegaard
Norway lost because of how brilliant Scotland was during qualifying, which was a bit of a surprise. The Tartan Army and Spain, who have won Europe twice, both made it out of Group A. This means that Martin Odegaard will have to wait to play for Denmark in a big international tournament for the first time.
The leader of Norway will likely think that this great group of Norwegian athletes should have done better in qualifying, and he would probably be right. The Scandinavians lost to Spain and Scotland and didn’t get any points against them, so they couldn’t use the play-offs as a last-ditch effort.
The Arsenal midfielder should have a chance to make things right in future qualifying games, but for now, Norway has to keep waiting to play in a big tournament for the first time since Euro 2000.
Erling Haaland
The Premier League player who scored the most goals last season will not be going to Euro 2024. Erling Haaland scored 27 goals in 29 games for Norway, but his six goals in qualification didn’t help in the end.
Next year, the Manchester City star forward will have a summer off, which will be bad for Premier League defenders. It’s too bad fans won’t be able to see Haaland go back to Germany in 2024.
It could be said that his lack of foreign success cost him the most recent Ballon d’Or, and that will be a tough problem for the Norwegian to solve in the future.
