With Harry Kane leading the line, Euro 2024 is regarded as England’s best chance of winning an international tournament since their World Cup victory in 1966.
But Germany, the host nation for the Euros, has come up with a dastardly plan to thwart the Three Lions by using an obscure law to prevent Kane from playing for the country of his birth.
Under the Foreign Nationals (Football) Act, passed by the Bundestag in 1898, players can only represent the country in which they are resident.
The law has never been enforced, but it remains on the statute books and with the Euros less than three months away the Deutscher Fussball-Bund, Germany’s equivalent of the Football Association, is in secret talks with the country’s government to put it to use.
Nightmare scenario
England captain Kane now lives in Bavaria after signing for Bayern Munich last summer, meaning he could face the nightmare scenario of missing out on the tournament or, worse still, being forced to play for Germany.
Olaf Pirlo, secretary of the DFB, said: “Yes, it’s true that there is a law here that means anyone living in Germany has to play for Germany or not at all.
“It has not been invoked in the past because none of the players who came here were good enough to play for Germany.
“But Kane coming to Germany has changed all that. He is the best striker in the world and he simply cannot be allowed to play for England.”
