The England Euros squad highlights the positive impact of immigration.
As another men's Euros approaches for the Three Lions, expectations are soaring once more, with fans eagerly anticipating a breakthrough in their 58-year quest for a major international trophy.
During the last men’s EurosEuros, research by Best for Britain revealed that out of the 26-man England squad, 13 players were eligible to represent another country, either because they were born outside of the UK or had parents and grandparents of different nationalities. However, this number has since risen, with the 2024 squad now featuring 15 out of 26 players who could potentially play for other countries.
Take for instance young talent Kobbie Mainoo, who was recently included in the squad. He qualifies to play for Ghana through his Ghanaian mother. If England had not selected him in March 2024, he might have chosen to represent his mother's country on the international stage instead of the Three Lions.
Additional new members of the squad include Ezri Konsa, who has the eligibility to represent both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola because of his Congolese father and Angolan mother. Remarkably, five out of eight defenders selected for the men’s Euros can potentially play for other countries. Alongside Konsa, there are Kyle Walker (Jamaica), Joe Gomez (Gambia), Marc Guehi (Ivory Coast), and Trent Alexander-Arnold (USA).
When you add together the international caps of these defenders (totaling 138 caps), it equals the combined caps of past England stars John Terry (78 caps), Jamie Carragher (38 caps), and Lee Dixon (22 caps).
Some of England's top talents in both current and previous squads might not have had the chance to play for England if past immigration laws had been as strict as measures like the Rwanda Bill proposed by Rishi Sunak and his Tory colleagues today.
We've made significant progress in previous tournaments, but if the Tory government remains in power much longer, their increasing hostility towards immigrants could restrict our ability to discover talented players to represent us in future tournaments. Ultimately, our England team surely can’t fare as poorly as the current government.
Regardless of what happens in this tournament, we can be grateful that many of these exceptional talents can and will represent us this summer See More...See More...
