Half of the last six European Championships have been won by Chelsea players and the latest crop of Blues will be hoping replicate their predecessors’ achievements at this summer’s tournament in Germany.

Euro 2024 kicks off on Friday evening when the hosts – featuring former Blues Kai Havertz and Toni Rudiger – take on a Scotland side manager by ex-Chelsea defender and coach Steve Clarke.

That match takes place in Munich’s Allianz Arena, venue for our own famous moment of European triumph, when we defeated Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League final.

However, Chelsea’s first real involvement doesn’t arrive until Saturday afternoon, when the first of our eight representatives in the competition begin their campaigns.

Group B

Albania – Armando Broja

The Albanians will be competing in a major international tournament for just the second time in 2024 and are considered among the underdogs after being drawn in this year’s ‘group of death’ alongside Croatia, Italy and Spain.

Despite missing their entire qualifying campaign through injury, Broja is expected to start up front in Germany. His pace is seen as key to their counter-attacking style and fixing the lack of goals they showed in their last Euros in 2016, having returned to the international scoresheet in Albania’s 3-0 win over Lithuania in a warm-up friendly earlier this month.

Group fixtures: Italy (Dortmund, 15 June, 8pm), Croatia (Hamburg, 19 June, 2pm), Spain (Dusseldorf, 24 June, 8pm)

Spain – Marc Cucurella

There are several new faces in a Spain team which impressed during qualifying by winning seven of their eight matches, scoring 25 goals and conceding just five, and they hope to become the first country to win four Euros titles.

One of those newcomers is Cucurella, who could make his competitive international debut at Euro 2024, with his four previous appearances for the senior side coming in friendlies, all in the last three months.

Group fixtures: Croata (Berlin, 15 June, 5pm), Italy (Gelsenkirchen, 20 June, 8pm), Albania (Dusseldorf, 24 June, 8pm)

Group C

England – Conor Gallagher, Cole Palmer

The Three Lions enter their fourth tournament under the management of Gareth Southgate hoping to finally secure a first trophy since 1966 after some near misses, most notably losing the last Euros final on penalties.

Both Chelsea men are in the mix for a spot in the line-up. Gallagher is one of several contenders for the second midfield spot alongside Declan Rice, while Palmer’s brilliant campaign with the Blues made his case to oust Phil Foden or Bukayo Saka in one of the support roles behind striker Harry Kane, having scored his first international goal in a warm-up friendly.

Group fixtures: Serbia (Gelsenkirchen, 16 June, 8pm), Denmark (Frankfurt, 20 June, 5pm), Slovenia (Cologne, 25 June, 8pm)

Serbia – Djordje Petrovic

There is plenty of optimism in Serbia that their first appearance at the Euros since 2000 will see them improve on their group stage exit from the World Cup two years ago.

Despite impressing in his debut campaign with Chelsea, Petrovic is expected to provide support for the more established goalkeepers in the squad, having not featured in Serbia’s warm-up games.

Group fixtures: England (Gelsenkirchen, 16 June, 8pm), Slovenia (Munich, 20 June, 2pm), Denmark (Munich, 25 June, 8pm)

Group D

Netherlands – Ian Maatsen

The Dutch are led by a man who knows all about what it takes to succeed at the Euros, with Ronald Koeman being a key member of the side which won the competition in 1988. It remains to be seen how much he will rely on Maatsen, who was a late call-up to the squad.

Although Ian impressed at left-back during loan spells with Burnley and Borussia Dortmund, he was a replacement for injured midfielders Teun Koopmeiners and Frenkie De Jong, so could be used in a more attacking role, as he was with the Blues in the first half of 2023/24.

Group fixtures: Poland (Hamburg, 16 June, 2pm), France (Leipzig, 21 June, 8pm), Austria (Berlin, 25 June, 5pm)

Group E

Belgium – Romelu Lukaku

As strong favourites in their group, Belgium will expect to progress to the knockout stages in relative comfort. They will be hoping to improve on quarter-final exits at the last two Euros, with many of the same players in their squad again. One of those is Lukaku, who scored six times across the two previous tournaments and is set to captain his country this time around.

Group fixtures: Slovakia (Frankfurt, 17 June, 5pm), Romania (Cologne, 22 June, 8pm), Ukraine (Stuttgart, 26 June, 5pm)

Ukraine – Mykhailo Mudryk

After a tough qualifying group which included both Euro 2020 finalists Italy and England, Ukraine booked their place in the finals with play-off wins over Bosnia & Herzegovina and Iceland.

They possess a good balance of youth and experience, with Mudryk almost certain to line up on the left flank, having missed just one international fixture since making his debut two years ago. He has been part of a consistent front three, alongside Girona stars Viktor Tsygankov and Artem Dovbyk – the latter finishing as La Liga’s top scorer in 2023/24.

Group fixtures: Romania (Munich, 17 June, 2pm), Slovakia (Dusseldorf, 21 June, 2pm), Belgium (Stuttgart, 26 June, 5pm)

Knockout round schedule

Last 16: 29 June-2 July

Quarter-finals: 5-6 July

Semi-finals: 9-10 July

Final: 14 July