Declan Rice and Jesse Lingard have been included in England’s provisional squad for UEFA Euro 2020.
West Ham United midfielder Rice is expected to be a key man for manager Gareth Southgate as the Three Lions go for their first ever European title on home soil this summer.
And Lingard will hope to travel to a third major tournament with his country after a superb loan spell in Claret and Blue in which he scored nine goals and assisted five more in just 16 Premier League appearances.
England 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.
Rice, who has just completed a standout 2020/21 season with the Hammers, 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.
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.
Lingard, meanwhile, has long been in Southgate's mind, having helped his England side reach the semi-finals of both the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 UEFA Nations League finals.
The 28-year-old has 27 senior caps and four goals to his name since debuting in a World Cup qualifying win at home to Malta in October 2016.
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.
