The year-long delay to Euro 2020 has shifted the narrative for a host of stars, and meant the long wait for a return to the big stage has been extended for others.
Now, though, Europe's elite are set to battle it out as Portugal defend the title they won in France five years ago.
Some players enter the competition in great form and with little baggage, but for others this month-long tournament is a chance to make a big splash, or live up to long-held expectations.
Here, Stats Perform looks at two famous footballing nations, four big-name stars and a coach who bows out of his current job and may have designs on his next assignment.
Gareth Bale: Finished or a new beginning?
The wing wizard can do little wrong in the eyes of Wales and Tottenham supporters, and perhaps now there is a glimmer of hope for his Real Madrid career.
At the end of a season-long loan at Spurs, it seemed likely Bale would head back to Madrid and spend the final year of his contract largely on the sidelines. His future looked to be one of training, playing the odd Copa del Rey game and making fleeting LaLiga appearances, and spending his happiest hours on the region's best golf courses.
Now that Zinedine Zidane has moved on, that could change all of a sudden, and Bale has an immediate chance to make an impression on new Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti when he captains Wales at the Euros.
Bale joined Madrid in 2013, when Ancelotti was embarking on his first spell at the Santiago Bernabeu, but his career in Spain looked to have all but conked out 12 months ago.
The door certainly seems open for the 31-year-old to do just that as, in his presentation news conference at Madrid, Ancelotti said: "Gareth has not played much in the Premier League [in 2020-21], but he scored lots of goals, and was very effective in recent games when he had a chance to play.
"He is coming back, I know him very well, he will be motivated to play better and have a great season, no doubt."
At Spurs, he scored 16 goals across all competitions at an average of one every 104.44 minutes, and his match fitness appeared to be building up nicely when the season ended.
Bale exceeded his expected goals (xG) total of 11.07 quite handsomely, and for the first time since the 2015-16 season he scored more goals than he had big chances.
He had 15 such chances, defined by Opta as situations "where a player should reasonably be expected to score".
Bale is said by some observers to be considering retiring after Euro 2020, but that could be a waste of a still-luminous talent and Ancelotti is sure to be closely watching.
Eden Hazard: Brilliant Belgian has been a Real disappointment
So often sparkling for Belgium and Chelsea in the past, Hazard has left Madrid supporters wondering what has happened to that fizz since he landed in Spain.
He started just seven games in LaLiga in the season just ended, a string of muscle injuries and a spell out with COVID-19 ruining his campaign.
When fit enough to feature, the forward's numbers have been way down on those that he produced – to take a pertinent example – during Belgium's Euro 2020 qualifying campaign.
A fair way of assessing his figures is to look at how Hazard contributes for every 90 minutes he is involved with club and country, and the comparison between his displays in Belgium's run to reach this tournament and in 2020-21 at Madrid shows an alarming dip.
His chances created total per 90 minutes falls from 4.6 to 1.0, his number of touches of the ball slides from 95.1 to 73.8, and his dribbles attempted plummet from 7.4 with Belgium to 4.2 in Madrid's season.
His involvements in shot-ending sequences of play fall from 10.8 to 4.9 per 90 minutes, and analysis of goal-ending sequences shows his contribution drops from 1.9 with Belgium to 0.8 per 90 minutes with Madrid.
It bears remembering that Hazard has not had the run of games that would give him full match fitness. If Real Madrid fans want any succour, they can find it in his Belgium statistics and must hope the coming month sees the 30-year-old roll back his form a couple of years.
A fit and firing Hazard would be a huge asset to Ancelotti, who is expecting the former Chelsea star to have an impact next term.
"Hazard is a top player, he has had injury problems, and not shown his top potential yet here," Ancelotti said. "I believe he can do that next year, he wants to, is motivated."
Karim Benzema: Have France really missed him?
Nobody doubts Benzema's ability or his current form. Firing 23 goals for Real Madrid in LaLiga showed he is coming into Euro 2020 in great shape.
The thing is: few expected him to play any part in this tournament.
Off-field matters and an impending court case have seen Benzema frozen out by France, the 33-year-old sidelined from international duty since 2015 following allegations he had a part in a plot to blackmail former Les Bleus player Mathieu Valbuena.
Benzema strenuously denies any wrongdoing and for the duration of Euro 2020 he will aim to show what France have been missing in his absence. They managed to win the 2018 World Cup without him, and reach the final of Euro 2016, yet coach Didier Deschamps has decided his team need Benzema's presence for the coming month.
It could be a masterstroke or could go disastrously wrong, with France a national team who have combusted before during a big tournament.
Benzema last year made the snippy remark that Olivier Giroud was a go-kart and he, by contrast, was a Formula One car, but now they are rivals for selection.
Squad harmony is vital at any major championship, and Benzema's presence brings that little extra frisson. This gamble could go either way. Watching him and France will be fascinating.
Marcus Rashford: Making his pitch for a better England
Manchester United striker Rashford has been a pandemic social justice warrior, emerging as an inspirational figure as he battled for school children to avoid food poverty.
There is so much to admire about the 23-year-old Mancunian, who has also faced – and faced down – appalling racism on social media.
It would take a cold, cruel heart to begrudge Rashford a major moment on the pitch now, and that could come with England over the coming weeks.
On the international scene since just before Euro 2016, Rashford is now fixtures-and-fittings within the Three Lions set-up, but he has still yet to score at a World Cup or European Championship.
Before June's pre-Euros friendlies he had 40 caps and 11 goals and will want to improve his so-so goals-to-games ratio, which is partly explained by the fact only 20 of those caps came as a starter.
Golden Boot winner Harry Kane carried so much of the scoring burden for England at the last World Cup, and sometimes it takes two. Rashford scored three times in Euro 2020 qualifying and is coming off a 21-goal campaign with United, scoring on average once every 197.76 minutes.
The man who is effecting positive change in the way many live their lives, influencing politicians and shaping a better future for millions, could now do his country a massive favour on the football field.
Scotland: They're back, thanks to Mourinho's former right-hand man
Few in the Scotland team are long enough in the teeth to remember the last time the Tartan Army descended on a major tournament.
It was 1998, with the Scots giving Brazil a major test in the opening game at the Stade de France. A draw followed against Norway followed the 2-1 loss to the Selecao, before a dismal defeat to Morocco meant the campaign ended in crushing disappointment.
Hopes have flickered and foundered in the decades since, but Steve Clarke, once an assistant boss to Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, has led his team back to the big time.
With the likes of Andy Robertson, Scott McTominay and Che Adams, they possess Premier League quality, and two games Hampden promise to be nourishing for the soul.
Scotland is an expectant nation. That tends to end in intense disappointment at major tournaments, but optimism abounds as the games approach, the June 18 clash with England at Wembley ringed in the diary.
Italy: Blue skies again for Azzurri
It felt absurd that Italy should be absent from the 2018 World Cup, but they failed the meritocracy test of qualification when losing a play-off to Sweden.
That meant they were absent from football's great global gathering for the first time since 1958, and coach Gian Piero Ventura was swiftly given the heave-ho.
Enter Roberto Mancini, the former Inter and Manchester City boss who has led a scorching revival of the Azzurri, a team who won all 10 of their qualifiers and headed into June on a 26-game unbeaten run.
Wales, Turkey and Switzerland are the group-stage opposition for Italy, and the Turkey game in Istanbul gets the tournament underway.
They are a team perhaps without a superstar, but as Paolo Rossi and Toto Schillaci would attest, iconic Italian figures can emerge on the big stage.
Joachim Low: Hit for six, Germany go back to the future
After 15 years, Low will step down as Germany head coach following these finals. Many in Germany think he should have stepped aside already, but Low has powerful support within the DFB, the national federation.
A 6-0 defeat to Spain in the Nations League last November felt like an appalling nadir, with Germany outshot 23-2 in Seville and having just 30 per cent of possession.
Something had to change and it has, with Low summoning Thomas Muller and Mats Hummels out of the international exile he harshly imposed on the experienced pair over two years ago.
Low felt he could do without their talents but it proved a major misstep, and for Germany's sake they are back. What Low does next remains to be seen, but a strong Euro 2020 campaign with Germany would bolster his chances of landing any elite club job.
The 61-year-old was a World Cup winner seven years ago, but the most immediately telling part of his legacy will be written during this European summer.
Fans celebrate Luton’s fairytale promotion to Premier League at civic parade
Thousands of Luton fans have celebrated the Hatters’ fairytale rise into the Premier League at a civic parade in the town.
Luton won promotion to the top flight of English football on Saturday by beating Coventry in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final, just nine years after playing in the National League.
Rob Edwards’ side – who won 6-5 on penalties at Wembley after the game had been drawn 1-1 – will next season welcome champions Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United to their modest 10,356-capacity Kenilworth Road home.
“It means everything,” said head coach Rob Edwards before launching into a rendition of Bon Jovi’s ‘Always’ and holding aloft the play-off trophy on the Luton Town Hall balcony.
“It’s for you (the fans), the Luton Town people, for the town, these players who deserve it, for the backroom staff who work so hard, the board. We’ve got to enjoy this moment.”
Some Luton fans had waited nearly four hours to see players and staff make their way on to a specially-constructed stage in the town’s St George’s Square.
Highlights of the season and the play-off final were shown on a big screen before two open top buses arrived following a short ride from Kenilworth Road.
Hatters chief executive Gary Sweet told fans: “The impact of being in the Premier League will be massive for this town.
“This could be a life-changing opportunity for us, but from a character point of view, don’t change.
“Let’s still be us, still grounded. Let’s keep humble.”
David De Gea says Manchester United are ready for one more ‘special’ battle
Manchester United have fought for success all year and David De Gea says they are ready for one more “special” battle against Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
Erik ten Hag’s first season in charge has been one of progress and, for the most part, positivity, with the side finishing third in the Premier League and sealing a Champions League return.
The Dutchman is only the second manager in United’s history to win a major trophy in his first season and has the chance to add to February’s Carabao Cup triumph this weekend.
Ten Hag’s Red Devils head to Wembley for the first all-Manchester FA Cup final, when they will attempt to add to their cabinet and stop rivals City’s attempts to win the treble.
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“We have to recover well and start to prepare for the game,” De Gea said. “Of course, we know it’s a big final, a special game.
“We’ve been the whole year fighting to be in that position to win titles and we will try absolutely everything to try to win.”
De Gea and his team-mates were all in at Carrington on Monday morning, with Sunday’s starters focused on recovery from the 2-1 comeback win against Fulham at a bouncing Old Trafford.
Kenny Tete had put the visitors ahead in the Premier League season finale and Marco Silva’s men would have extended their lead had Golden Glove winner De Gea not stopped Aleksandar Mitrovic’s spot-kick.
United kicked on after that, with Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes completing a victory that saw them beat Newcastle to third spot.
“We concede the first goal from a corner and then I think five minutes after we concede a penalty,” De Gea, whose contract has yet to be extended beyond the summer, said.
“I was very positive. I was feeling like ‘come on, you have to save this penalty, we have to finish properly the season at home, we have to win’.
“Then I make the save, everyone was happy, enjoying and I helped the team to win the three points today.
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“The manager wants us to be focused every game, winning every game. Before the game he was shouting before ‘come on guys, we have to finish properly, winning mentality’.
“So, yeah, we showed it again. 1-0 down, suffering a bit, but then we create chances and could have scored even more than two.
“But, like I say, a big way to finish the season with a victory and (it) gives a bit of enjoyment to the fans.”
The result saw United equal the club’s record of 27 home wins in all competitions in a single campaign, while also meaning they finished 17 points better off than last season.
“100 per cent, for sure, the improvement is there,” De Gea told MUTV. “Of course we still have a gap to improve but, yeah, a massive improvement from last season.
“Winning a cup, finish third – it’s never easy to finish in the Champions League places in England.
“And then we have another final, a big final, so I think at the moment it is a great year.”
As for Fulham, the defeat at Old Trafford was frustrating but this was a season to cherish having finished 10th on their return to the top-flight.
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Goalscoring right-back Tete said: “Unbelievable season, every single player.
“If you saw how we fought all season for every single point. Not even one game was easy for us.
“I am just proud of the boys. We said it as well to each other and this is something we have to build on.
“We know now what our standard is, we know now what we can bring. I can’t wait for next season.”
Steve Clarke aware Norway have ‘a lot of good players’ as well as Erling Haaland
Steve Clarke insisted there is more to Norway than Erling Haaland after naming his squad for the resumption of Scotland’s European Championship qualification campaign in Oslo.
The Scots, who began their Euro 2024 qualifiers in March with impressive home wins over Cyprus and Spain, travel to Norway for their June 17 clash before hosting Georgia at Hampden Park three days later.
Clarke’s side face the daunting task, in the first match of the double-header, of trying to stop 22-year-old Manchester City striker Haaland, who has scored a staggering 58 goals in all competitions so far this season.
Speaking in Glasgow’s George Square at the McDonald’s Fun Football Festival, which is part of the Scottish Football Association’s week of football, he said: “There are a lot of good players in the Norway side that we have to deal with as well as Haaland, who has obviously had an outstanding season.
“He is a top quality player. We need to make sure we are organised and make sure we play well and don’t make too many mistakes.
“We respect everybody, we respect our opponents all the time and we will give Norway and Georgia our full attention.”
Asked if he was wary of the focus being too much on Haaland, he replied: “I am wary of the fact that you are going to go down the line of Haaland, Haaland, Haaland.
“There are lots of other players that we need to deal with as well.”
Rangers centre-back John Souttar is one player who could be asked to shackle the Norway goal machine.
The 26-year-old, who returned to the Rangers side at the back end of the season after missing much of the campaign through injury, has not played for the national team since last summer’s Nations League defeat in Ireland.
Souttar takes the place of Norwich centre-back Grant Hanley, who has been sidelined with an Achilles problem since early April.
Clarke said: “When you lose players of the quality of Grant Hanley, whom we have lost for a considerable period of time, which is unfortunate for Grant, it is nice to have someone like John come back into the squad and hopefully he can show the form that he showed before any time I picked him for his country.”
Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland and his Hibernian forward Kevin Nisbet have been included in place of Stoke’s Jacob Brown, who missed the end of the Championship season with a hamstring issue, and Southampton’s Che Adams, who recently suffered a recurrence of the ankle injury he sustained in Scotland’s win over Cyprus.
Shankland, who previously made four appearances between October 2019 and November 2020, was recalled for the Spain game in March and has kept his place at the end of a campaign in which he has scored 28 goals for Hearts.
Nisbet, who won all of his 10 caps in 2021, is included for the first time since damaging his anterior cruciate ligament in February 2022. The 26-year-old has scored 12 goals for Hibs since returning to action in December.
Asked about the absence of Adams, Clarke said: “It is always disappointing when you lose key players, but you tend to get used to it.
“You normally name a squad and you lose key players all the time so, disappointing for Che, disappointing end to the season getting relegated with his club.
“He tried to come back and probably aggravated his injury trying to help his club so disappointing for Che but a chance for Kevin Nisbet to come back into the squad.
“Kevin is a goalscorer, we know the qualities he brings us. He has been in the squad before.
“Lawrence is in the squad, same qualities, he can score goals and don’t forget we have Lyndon (Dykes) as well.
“I thought he was really good in the game against Spain. We have enough quality up front.”
Clarke is looking to build on the fine start to the campaign which has brought six points from six.
He said: “When you are playing in a five-team group, eight games to qualify, every game is important.
“Every point that we can get over the summer is going to help us to the ultimate target, which is to qualify for Germany.”
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