England defender Harry Maguire said that not winning the European Football Championship next year would be a failure for the team, after brilliance in recent major tournaments.
Manchester United captain Maguire, who has 54 caps, was a mainstay in England’s defense under manager Gareth Southgate and started every game at the World Cup in Qatar last year, when the team were knocked out in the quarter-finals by France.
Maguire, who was also part of the team that reached the final of Euro 2020 and the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, described winning Euro 2024 in Germany as the only measure of success.
“I think we have players who can win the title,” Maguire, 30, told British media.
England started its 2024 European Championship qualifiers, with a 2-1 victory over defending champion Italy last Thursday, and will face Ukraine at Wembley Stadium, tomorrow, Sunday.
Maguire added: “Obviously we have to go through first from a difficult group, we came to Italy and had an amazing result. We are in a good position.
“But these big tournaments are decided by small details. I think we played really well in the World Cup and in the end, we came out against a good French team.
“So it’s something we’re working on…we have a lot of talent and a lot of young players coming in.”
Maguire led only 11 matches in the English Premier League this season, after he lost his place in United, with Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane favored in the center of defense in coach Eric Ten Hag’s team, but he said he had nothing to prove.
“I want to play every game for my club and the national team,” Maguire said. “I feel good enough to play at a high level and I’ve proven that over the past five or six years now.
“Last season was difficult, but I proved myself to Gareth (Southgate). I played more than 50 international matches… I feel like I shouldn’t really need to prove myself at this level.”