4 reasons why England can win Euro 2020

#3 Key players are tournament-hardened – but still young

England's young veterans like Kane, Sterling, Barkley and Henderson have seen numerous international tournaments

One big advantage that England have going into Euro 2020 is that while Gareth Southgate’s squad is still an extremely young one, most of his key players are hardened veterans of two or more tournaments. Captain Harry Kane appeared in Euro 2016 as well as the 2018 World Cup, as did Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Kyle Walker and others; Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley both played at the 2014 World Cup and Jordan Henderson is even a veteran of Euro 2012.

The best part about this experience? The majority of those players saw success in 2018, but have also been with England for some of their greatest failures – the group stage elimination in Brazil in 2014, and the notorious debacle against Iceland in 2016. That kind of experience – mixing the good with the bad – could be absolutely crucial should times get tough for Southgate’s men during their Euro 2020 campaign.

And of course, none of those tournament veterans – bar Henderson, who will still only be 29 when Euro 2020 begins – are older players, as the majority of them went to those past competitions as relatively inexperienced rookies. That means that not only will England have valuable experience going into Euro 2020, but they’ll also still have the vibrancy of youth.

It’s the kind of mix of experience and youth that worked so well for Germany in 2014 and France in 2018 – and should help England in the competition.