Marcus Rashford, Thibaut Courtois, Gavi and the star names set to miss Euro 2024

Francesco Acerbi is 36 now, but his injury-enforced absence is a major blow for Italy. The Inter centre-back would have almost certainly started for the Azzurri in Germany, and most likely alongside his club-mate Alessandro Bastoni.

Unfortunately, one of the game's late bloomers (because of a variety of off-field setbacks) has been ruled out of the Euros by a groin problem that requires surgery.

One of three Real Madrid players to tear an ACL this season, but unlike team-mates Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao, Alaba never had any chance of returning before the end of the campaign. Indeed, the versatile Austrian defender suffered his injury in December, in the first half of a Liga clash with Villarreal, and won't be fit to play any part in his country's Euro 2024 campaign.

In his first game back after recovering from a meniscus injury, Domenico Berardi suffered a complete tear of the Achilles tendon of his right leg in Sassuolo's Serie A clash with Verona on March 3. The versatile forward, who was part of the Italy squad that won Euro 2020, is not expected to return to action until next year.

Netherlands are not short of options at centre-back - in fact, it's arguably the position in which they have most strength in depth - but Botman's unavailability for the Euros is nonetheless a major blow for coach Ronald Koeman. Indeed, had the Newcastle defender not suffered an ACL injury while playing for against Manchester City on March 16, he would have been a contender to start in Germany.

Despite tearing the ACL in his left knee in pre-season, and then damaging the internal meniscus in his right on March 19, Thibaut Courtois returned to action for Real Madrid in their La Liga win over Cadiz on May 4.

However, the goalkeeper will play no part in Euro 2024 because of a very public and very bitter bust-up with Belgium boss Domenico Tedesco. The pair fell out last summer, with Tedesco claiming that Courtois missed the Euro 2024 qualifier with Estonia because he was upset at not being given the captain's armband.

The Belgian boss claimed ahead of the March international break, "I tried everything to take him to the European Championship this summer, but the last thing I heard was that he didn't feel ready to go. It was clear and honest on his part."

Courtois responded by effectively calling Tedesco a liar on social media with three Pinocchio emojis and has since stated that although he still wants to "sort things out like two adults", he freely admits that "something snapped inside" him after the captaincy snub and that remains enraged by the "breach of trust".

Given Courtois also accused the coach of leaking information to the press, there now appears little chance of a recall for the 'keeper as long as Tedesco remains at the helm.

It's been a sad end to a joyous season for Marten De Roon, who played an integral role in Atalanta's run to the final of the Europa League, only to miss the decider in Dublin with an injury that also subsequently ruled him out of the Euros.

"I can't imagine I've had a week in my career, or in my life, that has had so many ups and downs. Lost the Coppa Italia, couldn't play the final, win the Europa League," the Netherlands midfielder wrote on social media.

"In that last euphoric state, I spent a lot of time with the medical staff: it turns out I can't play the Euros. I will get over it, I will watch the squad and my friends as a fan, but for now it's a very tough day."

There were no guarantees that Frenkie de Jong would feature at Euro 2024 even though Ronald Koeman included him in his Netherlands squad. The midfielder hadn't seen a single minute of action for Barcelona since the April 21 Clasico loss to Real Madrid because of a recurring ankle problem. Consequently, it came as no surprise to see De Jong withdraw just days before his nation's tournament-opener.

"I'm sad and disappointed that I won't make it to the European Championship," the 27-year-old wrote on Instagram. "We've been doing a lot of work on it during the past few weeks, but my ankle needs more time unfortunately."

Things were going so, so well for Lewis Ferguson. With the attacking midfielder playing a pivotal role in Bologna's shock bid to qualify for next season's Champions League, Ferguson was being linked with the likes of Juventus and Napoli.

The 24-year-old was also looking forward to his first appearance at a major international tournament when disaster struck, with Ferguson suffering an ACL injury in a game against Monza on April 13. Ferguson's Euros dream was, thus, dashed, and his hopes of a high-profile summer switch are over too.

Barcelona reportedly blamed Spain coach Luis de la Fuente for the injury that Gavi suffered in a meaningless Euro 2024 qualifier against Georgia last November. The midfielder was one of just two players to retain their starting spot from the game against Cyprus that had sealed La Roja's spot in Germany three days previously, so the Blaugrana were furious when Gavi was forced off just 24 minutes into the match in Valladolid with "a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and an associated injury to the lateral meniscus".

De la Fuente dismissed allegations that the teenager was at risk of burnout as it was, insisting that he was "fresh" and fully fit to play. "This can happen in any situation," he argued. "It was an accident, a misfortune. He was perfect to play."

Whatever the truth, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has reportedly decided that Gavi won't be called up for international duty again until next year, even though he should be able to return to action in time for the start of the 2024-25 campaign.

Serge Gnabry's place in the Germany squad for Euro 2024 was in doubt after a succession of setbacks, one of which kept him out of the March internationals.

However, he was still hopeful of making the cut after returning in time for the business end of the season - only to suffer a hamstring injury just 27 minutes into the second leg of Bayern Munich's Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid. Gnabry was subsequently ruled out of action for an unspecified period of time, thus ending his Euros dream.

The mere fact that Jack Grealish's exclusion from the final England squad for Euro 2024 came as little surprise tells you everything you need to know about how poorly the once highly-rated winger has performed over the past year.

Despite playing for Manchester City, Grealish contributed just three goals and three assists in 36 appearances in all competitions, meaning the £100 million man had dropped well down the pecking order before the season's end.

Jordan Henderson's decision to leave Liverpool for Al-Ettifaq last summer proved a PR and sporting disaster. As well as being lambasted by the British public for his alleged hypocrisy by putting money above principles, Henderson left after just six months in Saudi Arabia, returning to Europe with Ajax.

However, the veteran midfielder failed to get his career back on track in Amsterdam, and his exclusion from the England squad for the Euros was welcomed by the majority of the nation's fans - even though manager Gareth Southgate attributed Henderson's omission to fitness concerns.

"He is a fantastic professional and it was a difficult call to make," Southgate said. "He'll be a miss. He's an exceptional individual and fantastic human being. The determining factor is the injury he picked up in the last camp. He missed five weeks and he just hasn't been able to get to the intensity [we need] in the games since then."

Lucas Hernandez's 2022 World Cup campaign lasted just 13 minutes, with the versatile defender rupturing the ACL in his right leg in France's opening group game, against Australia. Sadly, he now won't even make it to Euro 2024 after suffering the same injury to his left knee in Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League semi-final first-leg loss at Borussia Dortmund.

The 28-year-old, who can play centre-half or left-back, has already undergone surgery and is unlikely to play again until 2025.

The best defender in this season's Champions League, Mats Hummels produced a string of sensational performances during Borussia Dortmund's surprise run to the final - including two Man of the Match-winning displays against Paris Saint-Germain in the last four.

However, Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann has decided to leave Hummels at home because Antonio Rudiger and Jonathan Tah are his first-choice centre-back pairing, with the obvious insinuation being that the outspoken 35-year-old would not have found the role of understudy to his liking and could, therefore, have disrupted the dressing room.

Reece James proclaimed in a social media post at the end of February that "the comeback is coming" - but it didn't actually happen until the middle of May. It didn't go especially well either, with the Chelsea right-back sent off in the second of just two appearances before the end of the season.

Consequently, Southgate decided against calling-up James for the Euros for two main reasons. Firstly, the 24-year-old, who has a long history of hamstring problems, was desperately short of match fitness. Secondly, James plays in a position in which Southgate is well-stocked.

Given Gareth Southgate's shortage of quality centre-backs, Harry Maguire would have definitely started for England at Euro 2024. However, after playing himself into something resembling decent form during the second half of the season, Maguire's campaign was cut short by a calf problem that ultimately put paid to his hopes of travelling to Germany.

It's a bitter blow for the much-maligned defender, who will be 33 by the time the next World Cup rolls around.

Christopher Nkunku's hopes of making it to Germany were ruined by the persistent injury problems that blighted his first season at Chelsea, with the forward picking up a knee injury in pre-season that required surgery, thus ruling him out of action for four months.

He looked sharp upon his return to action, even scoring on his Premier League debut on Christmas Eve, but was sidelined again in January, this time with a hip complaint, before hurting his hamstring the following month.

Nkunku made his comeback in Chelsea's 5-0 rout of West Ham on May 5, but Deschamps decided against gambling on a player who has yet to net for France. "Of course Nkunku could've been called, but he had a complicated season," the Bleus boss explained. "He played some minutes recently, but it wasn't quite enough. Christopher is healed, that's for sure, but he hasn't yet started a match since his return."

Paul Pogba has been left "heartbroken" by his four-year ban for testing positive for a banned substance last August, which is entirely understandable. The midfielder insists that he never knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs (testosterone metabolites were found in his system), but should he fail to have the suspension overturned on appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the midfielder will probably never play for Juventus or his country ever again.

Pogba had been struggling with a succession of injury issues as it was and missed the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after failing to recover in time from surgery. Consequently, there were already serious doubts over whether he would ever recapture the form that made him the most expensive player in football history in 2016 when he moved from Juve to Manchester United.

Despite being one of England's better forwards at the 2022 World Cup, Marcus Rashford has been left out of Southgate's preliminary squad for the Euros, with the Manchester United man paying the price for a poor season that yielded just eight goals in 43 appearances in all competitions at club level.

"With Marcus, I just feel that other players in that area of the pitch had better seasons," Southgate explained. "It's as simple as that."

Raheem Sterling has a history of stepping up for England in big games and was easily their best player during their run to the final of Euro 2020. The Chelsea winger looked back to something close to the best at the start of the season, but even then, Southgate was arguing that Sterling had "a fight on his hands" to reclaim his place in the national team.

So, it came as little surprise to see the 29-year-old omitted from England's Euros squad, given Sterling suffered such a slump in form that he even became a target of the Stamford Bridge boo boys. It also didn't help that he was completely outperformed by his Chelsea team-mate Cole Palmer.

After impressing in both pre-season and the Community Shield, Jurrien Timber was dealt a devastating blow on his Premier League debut for Arsenal, with the summer signing suffering an ACL injury in the 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest last August.

Despite initial fears that the Dutch defender's season was already over, Timber made a much-anticipated return to action in a Premier League 2 game against Blackburn Rovers on April 22 - and marked the occasion with a stunning goal. He made his first-team comeback on the final day of the season, playing 21 minutes in the 2-1 win over Everton at the Emirates.

However, despite Timber's impressive versatility, Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman decided against including the 22-year-old in his Euros squad.

After making an encouraging start to his Premier League career following his shock transfer from AC Milan to Newcastle, Sandro Tonali found himself caught up in the biggest betting scandal to hit Italian football since the 1980s. In the end, the midfielder was banned for 10 months for his involvement in illegal gambling, starting from October 27, 2023 - thus ruling him out of this summer's Euros.

His suspension represented a major disappointment for Italy, given Tonali would have been challenging for a starting spot in Luciano Spalletti's side, but obviously the most important aspect of this whole sorry affair is that the 24-year-old is now receiving the help he needs to get over his gambling problem.

Ben White hasn't played for England since leaving the 2022 World Cup for "personal reasons", and his self-imposed exile appears unlikely to end any time soon. Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate tried to call the Arsenal right-back up for the March internationals against Brazil and Belgium, but was informed by Gunners sporting director Edu that the player did not want to make himself available for selection.

"For me that is a great shame," Southgate said. "He is a player we took to the Euros, a player we took to the World Cup and I spoke to him post-Qatar because I wanted to pick him. He is not available to us and there is no issue between us at all, and I also should say there is never any issue with [coach] Steve Holland because that has been mentioned in articles and I don’t like that.

"I want that door wide open. He would be in this squad but he’s not available to us and I have to focus on who can help us."