UEFA Euro 2020: COVID-19 UEFA Euro 2020: How COVID-19 has impacted 16th edition of European Championship

The COVID-19 has left its mark in this year’s European Championship which began on June 11 with many positive cases arising both before the start and later into the tournament. Here we look at the teams and the players who were affected by the virus :

Croatia

Croatian forward Ivan Perisic tested positive on June 26, ruling him out from the crucial Round of 16 match against Spain. This is a huge blow for the team as Ivan had scored two out of the four goals scored by them in the tournament so far.

England

Chelsea duo Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount had to go into isolation on June 21  after they came into contact with Scotland midfielder Billy Gilmour in their Group D group match. After the match, Billy was found to be positive. Currently, both Ben and Mason are doing their individual training at St George’s Park away from the England squad.

NETHERLANDS

The Netherlands suffered a huge blow when their first-choice goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen tested positive just weeks before the start of the tournament. Eventually, the Dutch were knocked out in the Round of 16 match against the Czech Republic.

PORTUGAL

Portugal’s defender, Joao Cancelo who also plays for Manchester City tested positive on June 12, just three days before Portugal’s opening game against Hungary. He had to be replaced by Diogo Dalot for the match.

RUSSIA

Russian midfielder Andrei Mostovoy tested positive on June 11, just two days before their opening group match against the tournament favourites Belgium. 

SLOVAKIA

Ahead of Slovakia’s second group match against Sweden, defender Denis Vavro and a staff member tested positive on June 17. 

SPAIN

Spain too suffered like Sweden with their captain Sergio Busquets testing positive on June 6 ahead of their opening group match. Diego Llorente too was tested positive a few days later, however, it came out to be a false positive case.

SWEDEN

Swedish mid-fielders Dejan Kulusevski and Mattias Svanberg tested positive on June 8, days before their opening Group E match against Spain. Both eventually rejoined the squad on June 14 after recovering from the virus.