The UEFA Euro 2024 is currently underway, attracting the attention of European football fans. Players from the biggest leagues as well as the smaller ones join forces to help their nations achieve glory. Among them are also four players that are currently playing for Celtic.
In the past, this Scottish giant was the home of many other players who represented their nation in the European Championships. Below we’ll mention five current and five past Celtic players that appeared at the European Championships.
Current Celtic Players That Appeared at the European Championships
There are currently five Celtic players that appeared at the European Championships. Among them are four Scottish players who were part of the Euro 2024 squad.
Sadly, Scotland failed to progress through to the knockout stages after finishing last in their group. The Celtic players that went to the Euro 2024 were Greg Taylor, James Forrest, Anthony Ralston, and Callum McGregor.
Greg Taylor was present at the past two Euros, but he didn’t play for a single minute. The same goes with James Forrest, who also made it to the 2020 and 2024 Euros. But, Forrest did manage to make a single appearance at the Euro 2020 against the Czech Republic.
Anthony Ralston was in the starting eleven in all three group matches at the Euro 2024. Lastly, Callum McGregor had three matches each at the Euro 2020 and 2024.
Another current Celtic player who played for his country at the European Championships is James McCarthy. This player was at the Euro 2012 and Euro 2016. In 2012, he didn’t make a single appearance.
But, at the Euro 2016, he played in all four matches. Sadly, the Irish’s chances of winning the tournament went down when they got France in the round of 16. Ireland ended up losing 2-1 against the French.
Former Celtic Players That Represented Their Nations at the European Championships
There are many former Celtic players who played at the European Championship. As such, we’ll only mention only the five most well-known past players.
The first one that we’ll mention is the former English number one goalkeeper, Joe Hart. He retired at the end of the previous season after spending 4 seasons at Celtic.
Hart was the first goalkeeper choice at the Euro 2012 and 2016. At both tournaments, England failed to go through to the quarter-finals. In 2012, they lost to Italy on penalties and in 2016, Iceland beat them 2-1.
Josip Juranovic is another former Celtic player who appeared at the European Championships. He represented Croatia at the Euro 2020 and 2024. At the Euro 2020, he appeared only in two matches out of the total four his national team played.
As for the Euro 2024, he started once and came as a substitution once more. In the end, Croatia finished the group in the third position. It’s worth mentioning that Juranovic played at Celtic from the winter of 2021 till the winter of 2023.
Next, we have Virgil van Dijk, one of the best centre-defenders in the world. He played for Celtic for three seasons between 2013 and 2015, after joining Southampton in the winter transfer window.
Van Dijk missed the Euro 2020 due to a serious injury. He also didn’t play at the Euro 2016, as the Netherlands failed to qualify. This means that the Euro 2024 is the first European Competition that this player appeared in. So far, he played all three group matches as well as the first knockout match.
Another former Celtic player who appeared at the European Championships is Jeremie Frimpong. This Dutch player joined the Scottish champions in 2019 from Manchester City. He then left in the winter of season 2020/21 for Bayer Leverkusen, where he showed his true potential.
Frimpong’s first and only appearance at a national European Championship is the Euro 2024. So far, he played only two group matches with the possibility of playing a few more.
Last but not least, we have Kieran Tierney, a Scottish player who currently plays for Arsenal. He is a product of the Celtic academy, after joining the north London giants in 2019.
Tierney was part of the Scottish national team in the past two Euros. At the Euro 2020, he played only two out of the total three matches. Finally, at the Euro 2024, the defender also appeared in two group matches.
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