England stars are all smiles as they land in Germany for Euro 2024

England‘s squad have landed in Germany ahead of Euro 2024 getting underway this weekend.

Gareth Southgate’s 26-man group were pictured boarding their plane at Birmingham Airport on Monday afternoon and were whisked away to Germany, where they touched down at the regional Erfurt-Weimar Airport.

The Three Lions – who start their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on Sunday – will be based at the Weimarer Land Spa and Golf Resort on the outskirts of Blankenhain, a town nestled in a forest with a population of fewer than 7,000 people.

They come into the tournament off the back of two underwhelming friendly performances against Bosnia and Iceland, winning the former but suffering a morale-bruising 1-0 defeat by the latter on Friday. 

Now, though, all eyes turn forwards, and the England team landed in Erfurt at 6.18pm local time – where dozens of local residents, and police, had been eagerly awaiting their arrival.

The airport’s viewing terrace was packed with excited residents 90 minutes before the team, 3-1 favourites for the tournament, touched down.

And the one name on everyone’s lips was that of England’s talismanic striker Harry Kane, who notched 36 goals in his maiden campaign for Bayern Munich to finish the Bundesliga’s top scorer in 2023/24 following his £84m move from Tottenham Hotspur in August 2023.

Student Camryn Lang, 22, travelled to the airport with childhood friend Jenny Pabst, also 22, and each were keen to see the striker.

Camryn, who is studying social sciences and history at the University of Erfurt, said: ‘This is the most exciting thing to happen here for ages’.

Asked if they could name any other England players, Camryn volunteered Raheem Sterling, who did not make the squad, and Jude Bellingham, while kindergarten worker Jenny could only come up with Harry Maguire, who misses the tournament through injury.

The two young women, who went to school together, arrived at the regional airport an hour-and-three-quarters before the England party landed, joining a handful of plane spotters and the other local fans also populating the viewing gallery.

They included Micele Alter, 36, and daughter Malica, aged six, and Micele’s friend Sven Meister, 34. Both men – who had taken the day off from their roles at the airport in order to look out for the football stars – also said they were most keen on spotting Kane, 30.

But Malica was adamant that ‘Deutschland are going to win (the tournament).’

Some of the group chanting for Kane outside the terminal building were Syrian refugees. Some of the crowd then joined in with a ‘Belly, Belly, Belly’ chant for Bellingham.

Crowd member Monica Weil, 28, followed the England team’s privately-chartered Boeing 737 jet’s progress on an internet flight tracking app.

She said: ‘I’ve come here to see Harry (Kane) face to face for the first time. He is my king – my legend. With him England can do anything.’

Also amongst the crowd was German native Jackie Williams, 47, who is married to a Welshman and lives in of Erfurt – but said she had a ‘soft spot’ for England.

‘My friend’s daughter heard they were flying in today so we decided to come down and welcome them to Germany’, she said.

‘Germany have improved lately so they do have a chance but England have the best players. I want Germany to win, of course, but after that England are my favourite choice.’

Tanya Schlereth, 49, a dental nurse said: ‘As soon as she heard England were flying in we had to come and greet them. We all thought we would have an ordinary afternoon at home on the sofa but we are here to see the players arrive instead which is much more fun.

‘I want Germany to win the tournament , but if it’s not to be then hopefully England will be the winners.’

Udo Ludwig and wife Dorit, 68, came to the airport because the pair are fans of Premier League football and wanted to see the stars close up.

Mr Ludwig, 69, from Erfurt, said: ‘I should be quiet because we don’t watch the Bundesliga, we watch the Premier League on Sky. The teams have the best players in the world.

‘Since I was 15 I have looked up to the English players.’

The Liverpool fan said he would be delighted to see the team’s midfielder Trent Alexander Arnold at close quarters. ‘We just love English football’, he added.

Outside the airport, a long line of police vehicles were parked up yards away from the England team bus since shortly after the squad departed Birmingham International Airport.

As the team, dressed all in black, walked out of the terminal building and on to their coach in ones and twos, a crowd of more than 200 cheered each player in turn. 

Conor Gallagher acknowledged the applause with a ‘thumbs up’ gesture, while John Stones waved and smiled shyly.

The coach then took the Three Lions to their Weimarer Land Spa and Golf Resort, which England have paid approximately £850,000 for.

At the venue, the players will find three golf courses, a padel court and even a robot called Robbie, who only speaks German, to serve the squad and collect their dishes. 

When they boarded the plane from Birmingham earlier on Monday, the players were snapped in black tracksuit shorts and trousers, black t-shirts with an England badge and Nike swoosh down the middle, as well as Nike tracksuit jackets. 

Players posed for pictures in front of the plane as they made their way up the steps, with the squad and Southgate all smiles.

Captain Harry Kane risked being the brunt of his team-mates’ jollity when was asked what his essential travel item was that he had packed to take to Germany.

‘What have I packed in my bag? I am boring. I have got the basics like iPad, headphones and a bit of face moisturiser. The missus will be happy with that.’

Former England women’s star Jill Scott then asked him: ‘So if you look good, you play good?’

Kane replied: ‘Exactly, that’s how it goes.’

But England’s all-time leading goal scorer said the team were serious about bringing the European Championship trophy home next month.

He said the ‘perfect combination’ was him winning the Golden Boot and leading England to victory, but he would still be happy if he didn’t score and ‘England brought it home.’

Declan Rice of Arsenal packed his PlayStation and said: ’We all have them, without them we would be lost.’

But he added: ‘It is a privilege and honour and it feels very real now. It is proper now.

‘We want to make history. I know we say it all the time, but we genuinely have a group and a manager who really believe.

‘We have a confidence that we can go there and do something really special. And of course, with that comes hard work. That is going to be the main thing.

‘Hard work as a team, unity and togetherness and with everyone behind us at home, we are going to feel that for sure.

‘So stick with us, be positive and let us see what happens.’

He said he enjoyed spending hours with his team-mates ‘talking nonsense’ and Love Island was always a topic.

Jordan Pickford was also spotted leaving for the coach to the airport at St George’s Park with a personalised rucksack featuring a picture of himself on the back beneath the Wembley arches, complete with his initials ‘JP’ and the names ‘Megs’ and ‘Arlo’.

The Prince of Wales was similarly seen chatting to Southgate at St George’s Park on Monday, and later told the squad his son, Prince Louis, had recommended ‘double portions’ to get the job done in Germany.

He later presented packages to every player in the squad, with each one fully personalised to recognise their journey from grassroots level to the national team. 

The performances against Bosnia and Iceland were not the ideal build-up to the tournament, despite an unbeaten qualification campaign.

However, Kane believes that could yet prove a good thing, especially as their opponent’s game-plan will likely reflect that of group rivals Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia.

‘This could be a nice wake-up call for everyone to realise it is not going to be as easy as people think,’ said the England captain.

‘There is a lot of work to do. Sometimes, you need this wake-up call. There are areas we need to improve, especially with our pressure. The group games are going to be very similar to this. We are going to have to defend well, especially the longer balls, and with the ball we need to be a bit more patient. It is one to look back on.’

The Bayern Munich star did not pull any punches, as he went on: ‘We fell below our standards without the ball and that is something we have to review and get better with.

‘We had spells where we did well and played some really nice football and created some good chances. But against these types of teams especially, you have to be more clinical.

‘There probably wasn’t enough hunger in the duels, in the second balls and winning those. They are a big important part when you are playing these teams, to sustain the pressure and really suffocate them. We didn’t do that well.’

That being said, Southgate is yet to field his full strength side, with Jude Bellingham absent and a number of regular starters rested for a chance to experiment with the side. 

England will however be going to the Euros without Harry Maguire, who will miss his first ever major tournament under Southgate after failing to prove his fitness in time. 

As such Marc Guehi is expected to take his place in the starting side, though question marks linger over John Stones’ fitness, with the Man City star picking up a knock against Iceland and coming off at half-time. 

Elsewhere the England manager still has other decisions to make, such as who starts with Rice in midfield, whether Bellingham plays as a No 10, where to play Phil Foden , and if Cole Palmer has done enough to dislodge Bukayo Saka on the right.