Xherdan Shaqiri and the six other MLS players at Euro 2024 this summer
It wasn’t so long ago that you’d rarely see MLS players turning out in major international tournaments outside of North America’s Gold Cup. But that’s all changed in recent years, with a number of Major League Soccer stars set to turn out at Euro 2024 this summer.
David Beckham, for example, continued receiving England call-ups for a couple of years after he joined LA Galaxy. But he never appeared in a major tournament for the Three Lions after becoming an MLS icon. That was a common theme for the big-name European stars that would see out their twilight years, often after retiring from international football, with clubs in the United States and Canada.
But nowadays it’s increasingly common to see European internationals, in the prime years of their careers, turning out for MLS clubs. Here are the seven MLS players that have been selected for Euro 2024 squads.
Lewis Morgan (New York Red Bulls) – Scotland
A late addition to Scotland’s provisional squad, New York Red Bulls winger Morgan has received his first call-up in six years. His first and only caps prior to this were under Alex McLeish, back in May 2018, when he was still relatively new at Celtic.
After a fairly underwhelming Celtic career, with so-so loans at St. Mirren and Sunderland, Morgan has kicked on and made over a hundred MLS appearances for Inter Miami and New York Red Bulls since 2020. He’s scored 30 Major League Soccer goals and has been particularly prolific this season with nine goals in 16 matches.
“We look far and wide at players,” says Scotland boss Steve Clarke.
“Lewis has had a great time in the MLS.
“He brings us something a little bit different. He can play wide and he can play as a second striker.”
Daniel Gazdag (Philadelphia Union) – Hungary
Regular watchers of Major League Soccer will recognise the former Honved attacking midfielder as one of the league’s most outstanding talents.
He boasts an exceptional record of 50 goals and 15 assists in 104 MLS appearances for Philadelphia Union and just appears to get better over time, with 10 goals in 15 matches so far in the 2024 campaign.
Despite that, he’s played a fairly peripheral role for Marco Rossi’s Magyars in recent years, with half of his 24 international caps coming from the bench. A knee injury kept him out of Hungary’s squad for Euro 2020 so he’ll be looking especially hungry (genuinely, no pun intended) to make an impact in Germany this time around.
Gazdag could be Hungary’s secret weapon as an impact substitute. They face Switzerland, hosts Germany and Scotland in a tricky group, but will back themselves to make it to the knockout stages.
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Bartosz Slisz (Atlanta United) – Poland
Mateusz Klich became a regular for Poland after his eye-catching performances eating up ground for Marcelo Bielsa’s high-intensity Leeds United. But he hasn’t received a call-up since signing for D.C. United in January 2023.
Poland manager Michal Probierz isn’t necessarily against looking across the Atlantic, however, having called up Atlanta United’s Bartosz Slisz. The 25-year-old midfielder joined the MLS outfit in January but evidently remains in Probierz’s plans, having played every minute of Poland’s Euro 2024 play-offs against Estonia and Wales back in March.
Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire) – Switzerland
A proper stalwart for Switzerland’s recent era, the stocky forward has represented his country on 122 occasions since 2010. That’s only two fewer caps than the captain, Switzerland’s all-time appearance-maker Granit Xhaka.
Ottmar Hitzfeld was Switzerland’s manager when Shaqiri made his international debut, if you want an idea of how long he’s been on the scene.
While there have been some peaks and troughs to his club career – often on the periphery at Bayern, Inter and Liverpool, a flop at Lyon – opportunities for his country have been a constant. He appears settled at Chicago Fire and will continue starting for Switzerland in their biggest matches. It just wouldn’t be a Euros without the Power Cube.
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David Brekalo (Orlando City) – Slovenia
The Orlando City centre-back has only played eight minutes of international football for Slovenia since last summer. Injuries kept him out of the latter half of Slovenia’s decent qualifying campaign, but he’d been an ever-present for their first five qualifiers, which included victories over Kazakhstan and Northern Ireland.
Brekalo watched from the bench as Slovenia recently registered a shock 2-0 friendly victory over Portugal, so you’d expect him to remain on the periphery as they attempt to navigate a tough group that features Denmark, Serbia and England.
Henrich Ravas (New England Revolution) – Slovakia
Like Brekalo and Slisz, 26-year-old ‘keeper Ravas only became an MLS player earlier this year, having left Polish outfit Widzew Lodz for New England Revolution in January.
Earlier in his career, Ravas spent a spell on loan at non-league Hartlepool United. You wonder if during that stint in the north east if he ever reached out to Newcastle’s experienced Martin Dubravka, who has long served as Slovakia’s No.1.
Ravas is yet to make his international debut and in all likelihood will just make up the numbers in Slovakia’s 26-man squad as the third-choice ‘keeper. Fulham’s Marek Rodak will serve as back-up to Dubravka.
Saba Lobzhanidze (Atlanta United) – Georgia
European Championship debutants Georgia are worth keeping an eye out for, if only for the absolutely electric Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Unfortunately for Atlanta United’s Saba Lobzhanidze, he plays on the same wing as Georgia’s one and only undisputed superstar and is unlikely to rack up many minutes in Germany. But he did recently make headlines by scoring twice in a 3-1 victory away to Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, so he’d evidently offer something.