Declan Rice has been selected in England’s final squad for UEFA Euro 2020.
Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate confirmed the 26-man squad on Tuesday evening for his team’s tilt at a first-ever European Championship title.
England will contest all three of their Group D fixtures at Wembley Stadium in London, the same venue that will play host to the semi-finals and final of the tournament.
Jesse Lingard, however, misses out on Southgate’s final selection despite enjoying a superb loan spell with the Hammers over the second half of the 2020/21 campaign, scoring nine goals and assisting four more in 16 Premier League appearances.
Rice, who on Tuesday was also named on the shortlist for the Premier League’s Young Player of the Season, has become a central member of Southgate’s squad since making his debut in a 5-0 Euro 2020 qualifying win over Czech Republic at Wembley in March 2019, and will wear the No4 shirt at this summer's finals.
The 22-year-old has 15 senior caps to his name, appeared at the UEFA Nations League Finals in summer 2019 and scored his first goal for England in a Nations League win over Iceland at Wembley in November 2020.
Rice will hope to add to that tally at Euro 2020, but his main role will be doing what he has done so well for West Ham this past season: shielding the defence, breaking up opposition attacks, completing the vast majority of his passes and carrying the ball forward with purpose.
England kick-off their challenge with a Group D meeting with Croatia on Sunday 13 June at 2pm BST – a rematch of the Three Lions’ 2018 World Cup semi-final, which the Croats won 2-1 in extra-time. The match will be broadcast live in the UK by BBC One and the BBC iPlayer.
Next up is a meeting with old rivals Scotland on Friday 18 June at 8pm, also at Wembley. That game will be screened by ITV and the ITV Hub.
And England’s third Group D tie will see Rice and Lingard potentially go face-to-face with Tomáš Souček and Vladimír Coufal when they tackle the Czech Republic on Tuesday 22 June at 8pm. That match will also be screened by ITV and the ITV Hub.
Should England progress as group winners, they will remain in London for their Round of 16 tie with either Euro 2016 winners Portugal, World Cup holders France, Germany or Hungary. If they win that, they will be off to the Olympic Stadium in Rome for a quarter-final, before potentially returning to Wembley for the semi-final and final.