Revealed: Multiple England stars could miss out on their favoured shirt numbers at Euro 2024 due to two little-known strict UEFA rules

A number of England stars are set to miss out on their preferred squad numbers at Euro 2024 due to UEFA rules.

With their tournament opener less than two weeks away, Gareth Southgate named England's 26-man squad for the finals on Thursday.

Notable omissions included Jack Grealish and James Madison with both players missing out despite featuring off the bench in Monday's 3-0 friendly win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Meanwhile England stalwart Harry Maguire also missed out on a place in the team, with the Manchester United star losing his race to recover from a calf injury in time for the tournament. 

Curtis Jones, Jarrad Branthwaite, James Trafford and Jarell Quansah were also all informed that they had not made the cut.

A friendly against Iceland will offer one final run out for the Three Lions before what could prove to be Southgate's final tournament as manager gets underway with their Group C opener next Sunday.

However, at the tournament in Germany a number of England stars will be unable to wear their preferred squad numbers.

The likes of Declan Rice (41), Phil Foden (47), and Trent Alexander-Arnold (66) have all made unconventional shirt numbers their own at club level.

However, article 58 of UEFA's regulation states that players must be registered with numbers 1 to 26 for the tournament.

The rules also state that only a goalkeeper is allowed to wear the No 1 shirt, a trend famously bucked by Spurs legend Osvaldo Ardiles for Argentina at the 1982 World Cup.