Why isn’t Haaland playing? Top players who will miss Euro 2024 in Germany

From Norway’s Erling Haaland to England’s Marcus Rashford, here’s a list of star players who will not play at Euro 2024.

The UEFA European Championship 2024 will begin on June 14 with 24 teams competing for the right to be crowned champions of Europe.

Ahead of the month-long tournament, media takes a look at some of the high-profile players who are missing from the showpiece event in Germany.

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard narrowly missed out on winning the 2023-24 Premier League trophy, which was coincidentally lifted on the final day of the season by his good friend Erling Haaland’s Manchester City for a record fourth time in a row.

While Odegaard and Haaland enjoyed hugely impressive individual performances in the Premier League – and are beloved by their clubs and country – both will be forced to sit out the European summer after their nation, Norway, stunningly failed to qualify for Euro 2024.

Norway, who have not played in a major football tournament since 2000, and who, despite being stacked with these two superstar players, finished a disappointing third in their group in the qualifying phase behind Spain and Scotland, failed to secure an automatic berth. Later, their playoff hopes were extinguished as well.

Even a thumping six-goal haul by Haaland during the Euro 2024 qualifiers was not enough to earn Norway passage to the tournament, while Odegaard’s two-goal contribution from the midfield was evidently not enough to get his team over the hump.

With a talented squad also featuring Fredrik Aursnes, Oscar Bobb and Julian Ryerson, it’s fair to say that Norway is the biggest shock omission from the Euro 2024 tournament, and a huge disappointment for the millions of fans who follow this talented pair.

Misfiring forward Marcus Rashford was left out of Gareth Southgate’s provisional squad for the Euros, just a year and a half after his dynamic outing at the World Cup in Qatar.

The 26-year-old suffered a loss in form in 2023-24, registering a paltry eight goals in 43 games in all competitions – a huge drop from the 30 goals he scored in the previous season.

Rashford’s omission from the national football squad was undoubtedly the biggest shock to English fans, as he had been a familiar presence in Southgate’s squad for years.