The Premier League Stars Who Surprisingly Never Played At The Euros | OneFootball

UEFA EURO 2024 is well underway and all eyes will be on this summer tournament along with the Copa America and Paris 2024 Olympics. It is a major tournament that all European international players, including Premier League stars, would dream of playing at least once in their playing careers.

Unfortunately, there have been several Premier League stars who have missed or, worse, never made any appearances in the Euros. This year, two key men in their clubs who were involved in a title race this season, Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard, have missed other major tournaments. Haaland won all titles at the club level with The Citizens last season, which put Manchester City tickets in high demand, especially in the big games in continental competition. He has been a Golden Boot winner in two seasons consecutively. However, he and Odegaard have been unable to lead Norway to qualify in any international competitions since their debut with the national team.

Haaland and Odegaard are just a few examples of Premier League stars who have never played in the Euros up until now. Others had no chance at all. Here are those unfortunate names.

Gary Pallister (England)

The former Manchester United man was one of the key players in Sir Alex Ferguson’s team in the 1990s. He was the mainstay at the back line and lifted the Premier League trophy four times, the FA Cup three times, plus the UEFA Winners Cup and Super Cup in 1991. Pallister made 455 appearances, laying on 15 goals and 12 assists for United.

Sadly, the former centre-back was never the first choice for the national team. He was only capped 22 times for the Three Lions without scoring or providing any assists. Pallister only featured once in the Euro 1992 qualifiers. Thus, he naturally did not cut the final squad. The defender who ended his career in Middlesbrough was not included in the Euro 1996 squad as well.

Ryan Giggs (Wales)

The left winger, who was a Manchester United star from the 1990s to the late 2000s, enjoyed trophy-laden years under Sir Alex Ferguson before he retired in 2014. 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League titles, plus the UEFA Super Cup 1991, the Intercontinental Cup 1999, and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2008.

Unfortunately, Giggs was not as lucky as Gareth Bale. He was never part of the major international tournaments, either the Euro or the FIFA World Cup. A winger with 64 caps had only managed to bring Wales to the Euro 2004 playoffs. They took on Russia in the two-legged games and suffered a narrow 1-0 loss to Yegor Titov and Co. Giggs did have a chance to appear in the 2012 Olympic Games with the Great Britain team, but it is not on the FIFA calendar, so it is not considered a major tournament.

Roy Keane (Rep. of Ireland)

He was one of the most legendary players at Manchester United and one of the top figures in the Republic of Ireland during his playing years. Keane was the skipper during the Red Devils’ glorious era when they won a treble in 1999 and lifted six Premier League trophies. In the national team, the former Nottingham Forest man was part of Jack Charlton’s squad in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, when Ireland reached the round of 16, and in the 2002 FIFA World Cup before his dispute with his boss, Mick McCarthy.

Unfortunately, Euro was never part of his career. The Boys in Green did not qualify for a single Euros in the 1990s and early 2000s. Their closest campaign to the final round was in 1995 when they faced off against the Netherlands in the Euro 1996 playoff in Anfield. Sadly, they were beaten 2-0.

Nemanja Vidic (Serbia)

He is the last former Manchester United man on the list. Vidic was one of the key figures on the backline in the latter years of Sir Alex Ferguson’s team. He moved to Old Trafford in 2005 and won five EPL titles, three EFL League Cup titles, plus the UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup in 2008. The former Serbian international stayed in Manchester until 2014 before switching sides to Inter Milan. Overall, he played in 300 games for United, scoring 21 goals and providing four assists.

Strangely, Vidic never had a chance to play in the Euros during his career. The only major tournament he appeared in was the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where Serbia stunned Germany with a narrow 1-0 win but failed to advance to the knockout stage. He was part of the squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup but did not feature in a single game.

Marcos Alonso (Spain)

The current Barcelona man who is likely to leave Catalonia this summer was part of Chelsea’s winning team from 2016 to 2022. He has already won all major trophies with The Blues, including the league title in 2017, the FA Cup in 2018, the Champions League, the Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021, and the Europa League in 2019. The versatile left-back had played 212 games for Chelsea, contributing 29 goals and 20 assists.

However, when it comes to international fixtures, Alonso seems to run out of luck. He has never played in any major tournaments, including the Euro. The former Bolton and Fiorentina man just made his debut in 2018 and has not played any international games since 2022. The 33-year-old left-back has only been capped nine times so far.

Sami Hyypia (Finland)

He was one of the Finnish footballers with the most decorated career. Despite never winning the league title, Hyypia was one of Liverpool’s legends. He helped the Reds clinch the FA Cup twice, the UEFA Super Cup twice, the Champions League in 2005, and the UEFA Cup in 2001, which was one of the treble titles he won. The former centre-back spent ten years at Anfield and contributed 35 goals and 15 assists in 464 matches from 1999 to 2009.

Nevertheless, the former Bayer Leverkusen boss never played in a single major international tournament. Finland did not qualify for any of them until EURO 2021, which remains their only major international championship in the modern era.