The Euro 2020 is the 16th UEFA European Championship. It takes place every four years and is organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The soccer competition was originally scheduled for June 12 to July 12, 2020. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was delayed for a whole year and is now rescheduled to start on June 11 and end on July 11, 2021.
Of the 24 teams, 19 will be returning from the 2016 edition. Belgium and Italy have been among them, each recording faultless qualification campaigns (10 victories in 10 matches). The defending champions Euro champions Portugal, the defending World Champions France, and the 2014 World Champions, Germany have qualified for the 13th consecutive time.
National teams were entitled to take 26 players in place of the regular 23 after the suggestion of a team enlargement by the National Team Committee of UEFA due to the impacts of the coronavirus. Thus, a large number of 622 players have been called up by their respective national teams, and the majority of them will fight for a chance to play at the Euro 2020.
Euro 2020: How many brothers will feature at UEFA European Championship?
There are two sets of brothers at the Euro 2020. After missing out on a call by Belgium boss for the Euro 2016, Borussia Dortmund midfielder Thorgan Hazard has finally made the list, alongside his brother Eden Hazard. Eden, who had an injury-plagued season with Real Madrid, came in as a 71st-minute replacement in Belgium's 3-0 victory against Russia on Saturday. Because of the fact that the younger brother was included in the starting lineup, the Hazard brothers spent 30 minutes on the pitch together.
On Sunday, when Austria faced debutants Macedonia, we saw another pair of brothers, who just like Thorgan and Eden Hazard, stayed on the field together for some time during the game. Former Sporting and current Dinamo Zagreb defender Stefan Ristovski started Macedonia's debut game at the UEFA European Championship, while his younger brother Milan Ristovski, entered the pitch in the 85th minute. The forward can even boast of netting one goal in his two senior caps so far.
Euro 2020 could have broken a record of the largest number of brothers playing, but for example, Romelu Lukaku's younger brother, Jordan, wasn't called up by Belgium this time, despite featuring at the previous UEFA European Championship in 2016. In addition, France decided not to take Theo Hernandez, who is Lucas Hernandez's younger brother, despite having an incredible season with Milan. Eventually, there is Anton Miranchuk who plays for Lokomotiv Moscow but he failed to join his brother Aleksey in the Russia team.
