There are 10 AC Milan players that are involved in major tournaments this summer and will hope to showcase the best for their country over two continents.
The 2024 European Championship kicks off on Friday night as Germany host Scotland at the Allianz Arena in Münich, and there are eight Milan players who will be involved as we have listed below.
Olivier Giroud, Theo Hernández and Mike Maignan (France)
➤ Austria v France: Monday 17 June at 21:00 CEST, Düsseldorf – Group D
➤ Netherlands v France: Friday 21 June at 21:00 CEST, Leipzig – Group D
➤ France v Poland: Wednesday 25 June at 18:00 CEST, Dortmund – Group D
France go into the tournament as the big favourites among the bookmakers having taken Argentina all the way in the last World Cup final, and the Rossoneri will have three players turn out for Didier Dechamps’ side.
The group on paper looks like one that they should top, but there could be some tricky games with the Netherlands in there. It feels like there is pressure on Les Bleus to deliver, and it will be interesting to see how many Giroud starts in his final tournament for France.
Simon Kjær (Denmark)
➤ Slovenia v Denmark: Sunday 16 June at 18:00 CEST, Stuttgart – Group C
➤ Denmark v England: Thursday 20 June at 18:00 CEST, Frankfurt – Group C
➤ Denmark v Serbia: Tuesday 25 June at 21:00 CEST, Munich – Group C
Kjaer will also be departing once his contract expires like Giroud, and Denmark will have a difficult task getting out of a group where England are the big favourites to go through top and Serbia also seem a tough proposition.
Nevertheless, the Danes were unlucky to lose to England in the Euro 2020 semi-finals and tournament football always seems to bring the best out of them, so they will be hoping to sneak through in second or as one of the best third-placed sides.
Rafael Leão (Portugal)
➤ Portugal v Czechia: Tuesday 18 June at 21:00 CEST, Leipzig – Group F
➤ Türkiye v Portugal: Saturday 22 June at 18:00 CEST, Dortmund – Group F
➤ Georgia v Portugal: Wednesday 26 June at 21:00 CEST, Gelsenkirchen – Group F
Leao seems to have finally carved out a consistent starting role under head coach Roberto Martinez and the feeling is that this could be a breakout summer for him after some impressive substitute appearances at the Qatar World Cup.
Portugal, like France, are one of the sides that the bookmakers fancy. They have depth and quality all over the pitch plus experience in the right areas, which is in theory the perfect blend to go all the way. Could Leao score a huge goal?
Tijjani Reijnders (Netherlands)
➤ Poland v Netherlands: Sunday 16 June at 15:00 CEST, Hamburg – Group D
➤ Netherlands v France: Friday 21 June at 21:00 CEST, Leipzig – Group D
➤ Netherlands v Austria: Tuesday 25 June at 18:00 CEST, Berlin – Group D
It has not been the build-up to the tournament that Ronald Koeman hoped for given he lost both Frenkie de Jong and Teun Koopmeiners in quick succession due to injury, but there is confidence that Reijnders can step up.
Having arrived from AZ Alkmaar last summer, Reijnders quickly established himself as a starter in the Milan midfield. What quickly followed was a fixed spot in the national team, too, and the Oranje are gunning to surprise a few providing that they get through the group with France.
Luka Jović (Serbia)
➤ Serbia v England: Sunday 16 June at 21:00 CEST, Gelsenkirchen – Group C
➤ Slovenia v Serbia: Sunday 20 June at 15:00 CEST, Munich – Group C
➤ Denmark v Serbia: Tuesday 25 June at 21:00 CEST, Munich – Group C
Serbia’s attacking depth means that it is unknown how many minutes Jovic will get, with Aleksander Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic also there as options for the striker role. However, a substitute role suited him at Milan this season.
The big hope for Dragan Stojković’s is side that they can snatch second place, potentially by beating Slovenia and Denmark. If they get something from that first game against England on Sunday, they will be full of belief.
Noah Okafor (Switzerland)
➤ Hungary v Switzerland: Saturday 15 June at 15:00 CEST, Cologne – Group A
➤ Scotland v Switzerland: Wednesday 19 June at 21:00 CEST, Cologne – Group A
➤ Switzerland v Germany: Sunday 23 June at 21:00 CEST, Frankfurt – Group A
Okafor is the first Rossoneri player that will feature at Euro 2024 presuming that he gets on the pitch during the game against Hungary tomorrow. Group A is tough to call aside from Germany as the obvious winners, but Hungary are probably second-best on paper.
The Switzerland head coach Murat Yakin aimed a thinly veiled dig at Milan over their handling of Okafor last season so it will be interesting to see how he uses him, and in what position.
Yunus Musah and Christian Pulisic (United States)
United States v Bolivia: Monday 24 June at 00:00 CEST, Arlington (Texas) – Group C
Panama v United States: Friday 28 June at 00:00 CEST, Atlanta – Group C
United States v Uruguay: Tuesday 2 July at 03:00 CEST, Kansas City – Group C
We move on to the Copa America, which starts around a week after the European Championship and will be held on United States soil. The USA are not entering as favourites given the presence of South American powerhouses, but will hope to surprise a few.
They should get through in second behind Uruguay and the most predictable path would see them face Brazil in the first knockout game. Pulisic is of course the star of the show and scored a free-kick against Brazil earlier in the week, while Musah is carving out an important role too.
Hope the Prima Donas don’t get hurt.
They barely mentioned Pulisic (did I mention that his goal resulted in a 1-1 draw between the US and BRAZIL?)
They didn’t even mention that Musah was EXTREMELY unlucky to not score, striking a shot that hit the crossbar, then Allison’s backside, without going in, or that Allison had to make two very good saves, one of them exceptional, to keep Pulisic from scoring a second, game-winning goal.
What about the 5-1 loss to colombia, north american football is still very far from south american football unfortunately
We rotated the squad heavily, and three of the five goals were scored in the final 15 minutes against our B and C players.
The Brazil match was closer to the side that will actually play, and more importantly, so was the Brazilian side.
I don’t think we’ll win the tournament, but I do think that we can do much better than people like you think we will.
Not sure if we can really list Olí and Kjaer here, technically former Milan players at this point. But hope everyone has a great tournament including those two, some extra rooting interests for us – Forza Milan
It’s a joke Calabria wasn’t called up.
He’s been consistently one of the best RBs in Italy for years.
– Marked all the best players out of games;
– Provided assists;
– Scored goals;
– Even played admirably as an inverted full back/midfielder.
I won’t be sorry to see the end of the inverted full backs and hopefully there’s time for Calabria to be given the chance to play in his natural position next season.
Inter block is conquering Italy NT now, so no milan player allowed unless they have real quality.
Your support for your captain is noted.
There’s more former players playing in the Euros than current…
There’s 14 excluding the scum Donnarumma and Çalhanoğlu.
Here’s a 1-11 (minus keeper because the only former keeper is the scum) plus 4 subs…
Bellanova
Darmian
Kjaer
Dalot
Pašalić
Vranckx
Cristatante
El Shaaraway
De Ketelaere
Giroud
Plus on the bench
Kucka
Salamon
Rodriguez
Piątek